Ford Energy Systems Drive Phosphate Demand

According to the deal, EDF can procure up to four gigawatt-hours (Gwh) of battery energy storage systems from Ford Energy annually, which equates to total potential volume of 20 Gwh over the five-year term of the agreement. The EDF pact should represent about 20% of Ford Energy’s annual output: Ford Motor Company’s CEO Jim Farley has declared that in time Ford Energy will deploy a minimum 20 Gwh capacity of such storage systems annually.

As a a point of reference, to satisfy its annual phosphate needs for the batteries in the storage systems, Ford Energy would need to procure about 50,000 tonnes of high-purity phosphate, or about 6% of the potential 900,000-tonne annual output of First Phosphate’s Bégin-Lamarche property, which contains some of the highest quality phosphate in the world.

Furthermore, many other manufacturers of battery energy storage systems including Tesla, Inc. (NAS: TSLA), LG Energy Solution, Ltd. (KSE: 373220), BYD Company Limited (SZSE: 002594), and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (OTC-ADR: CYATY) will likewise require high-purity phosphate, as will makers of electric vehicles and manufacturers of a high variety of electric devices that use LFP batteries. In aggregate, LFP batteries comprise about 80% of all batteries produced globally.

Such magnitude of demand for LFP batteries and for high-purity phosphate (which by mass comprises 61% of an LFP battery cathode) suggests that deposits of igneous phosphate will become increasingly valuable for supply of this high purity phosphate material. This is because over 90% of high purity igneous phosphate converts directly in battery-grade phosphoric acid with recyclable by-products and minimal environmental impacts.

Igneous anorthosite phosphate deposits, such as the First Phosphate Bégin-Lamarche property, are extremely rare and constitute the top 1% of all global phosphate deposits. Furthermore, First Phosphate Corp. is the only igneous anorthosite phosphate producer fully and singularly focused on the development of a mine-to-market LFP battery supply chain in North America.

Through a vertically integrated mine-to-market LFP battery supply chain strategy, First Phosphate plays a central role in achieving the shared goal of re-onshoring the LFP battery supply chain in North America. First Phosphate has produced LFP battery cells using North American critical minerals including high purity phosphate from its Bégin-Lamarche property.