Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NMG) was granted mining lease no. 1057 for its Matawinie mine by Québec’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests. This lease grants the company the right to mine the graphite deposit and marks a major regulatory milestone for the project, which is currently under construction and progressing according to the established schedule. The Matawinie mine is expected to become the largest natural graphite mine in operation in Canada.
“This milestone is the result of several years of dialogue and close collaboration with the Atikamekw community of Manawan, the municipality of Saint-Michel-des-Saints and Québec’s regulatory authorities. With the mining lease now obtained and construction underway, we continue to advance with rigour and discipline the construction of the Matawinie mine, which is a cornerstone of an integrated, domestic and secure graphite supply chain,” said Eric Desaulniers, NMG founder, president and CEO.
The granting of the mining lease follows several years of environmental, social and regulatory work. The company said that the project was designed to incorporate practices aimed at reducing its environmental footprint, including through water reuse, progressive restoration integrated into mining operations, biodiversity protection, and the co-disposal of tailings and waste rock.
NMG submitted the project’s environmental and social impact assessment in 2019, and Québec’s Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement conducted a full public review process in 2020. In 2021, the Government of Québec adopted the ministerial decree authorizing the project and establishing conditions and monitoring measures governing its development. In parallel, NMG and the Atikamekw community of Manawan signed an Impact and Benefit Agreement in December 2024.
The agreement includes the participation of the Atikamekw community of Manawan in environmental monitoring and in the project’s monitoring committee. As part of this ongoing collaboration, the first and largest construction work package for the mine was awarded in 2026 to a joint venture formed by the Manawan Atikamekw Council and a mining and civil contractor, Fournier Industries Inc.
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