Northern Graphite’s latest quarterly update shows that care-and-maintenance costs at the Okanjande graphite mine in Namibia have continued to decrease, even as the operation remains idle.
The company confirmed that Okanjande remains fully permitted and is considered a core part of its future production pipeline, but a restart will depend on Northern stabilising its finances and completing major upgrades at its Lac des Îles (LDI) mine in Canada.
The drop in Namibian care-and-maintenance expenditure reflects tighter cost controls implemented during 2025 and signals that Northern is trying to preserve cash while keeping Okanjande in a restart-ready condition.
Although the update gives no operational activity for Namibia, the mine is repeatedly referenced as a key asset with the potential to deliver new supplies more quickly and at a lower cost than most competing graphite projects.
Northern’s strategy puts Okanjande at the centre of its plan to become a fully integrated mine-to-battery supplier.
The company is positioning the Namibian asset to feed its planned battery anode material (BAM) facility in France, which has now been granted “Strategic Project” status by the European Union under the Critical Raw Materials Act.
That designation gives access to fast-tracked permitting and potential funding support, underscoring the EU’s interest in securing non-Chinese graphite supply. Okanjande is the only permitted African mine currently aligned with Northern’s downstream European plans.
The geopolitical backdrop is also shifting in ways that favour Okanjande.
The United States has imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties, bringing the effective tariff on Chinese graphite anode material to roughly 160%.
Europe, through the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan, has begun committing funding to build secure graphite supply chains outside China.
Northern’s partnerships with Italy’s Alkeemia and RAIN Carbon Canada were highlighted at the G7 meeting in Toronto as examples of the kind of strategic alliances needed to diversify supply.
These policy changes increase the urgency for new Western-aligned production sources, and Okanjande is one of the few projects already permitted and largely built.
For now, however, the mine remains idle because Northern is battling production instability and financing constraints at Lac des Îles.
The Quebec mine experienced another temporary shutdown during the quarter due to unplanned SAG mill maintenance, with concentrate output falling to 2,325 tonnes.
Lower volumes and rising costs pushed the company into a $1.5 million loss from mine operations in the quarter. Northern also reported that it breached several loan and royalty covenants, resulting in both facilities being classified as current liabilities, contributing to a negative working capital position of $48.3 million.
Although the company’s lenders have waived defaults as of 1 December 2025, Northern still needs to renegotiate debt terms to align them with new project timelines. Until its financial position stabilises, Okanjande cannot be restarted.
Even so, the Namibian mine remains one of Northern’s most important assets. The company highlights that Okanjande offers one of the fastest and lowest-cost pathways to increased graphite production for the battery market.
Its graphite has already been proven to meet battery-grade specifications, and the mine is close to infrastructure, enabling a quicker restart compared to typical greenfield developments.
Northern is openly positioning Okanjande as a key future supplier to its European BAM facility, which is designed to turn graphite concentrate into anode material for electric vehicles and energy-storage systems.
Care-and-maintenance costs for Okanjande have now been reduced to a level that allows Northern to preserve optionality while it focuses capital on the immediate challenges in Canada.
The company acknowledges that demand for graphite remains strong despite slowing electric-vehicle sales, with battery-storage systems and industrial clients providing resilient markets.
Western governments are building policy frameworks that directly support projects like Okanjande — a trend Northern’s leadership says is gaining momentum.
Once Northern completes the LDI pit extension project, addresses its debt structure, and secures additional financing, Okanjande is expected to return to development planning.
The company’s stated goal is to restart and expand production in both Canada and Namibia, linking the two mines to downstream processing hubs in Canada and France.
For Namibia, the update confirms that Okanjande is not sidelined; it is being preserved until Northern is ready to allocate capital to a restart.
Falling care-and-maintenance costs indicate that the mine remains stable, and growing geopolitical pressure for non-Chinese graphite makes the project more relevant.
The following major signals to watch will be Northern’s financial restructuring outcomes and the finalisation of downstream funding for the European BAM plant. Only then will clear timelines emerge for the return of production to Namibia.
