01:51 PM EST, 11/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Northern Graphite ( NGPHF ) on Thursday said it put its Lac des Iles mine and mill (LDI) into temporary care and maintenance in order to address an unexpected equipment issue and to accelerate critical maintenance and development work ahead of its 2026 pit expansion.

A statement noted that the decision to advance the start of care and maintenance was prompted by a bearing failure at the mill, a long-lead-time component with a replacement window of approximately four to six weeks.

Northern said it ordered a replacement part and, with the mill temporarily offline, it has elected to advance other maintenance and repair projects that had originally been scheduled for January, and which will support the transition to mining from the new pit.

"Rather than stopping the plant now and again in January we decided to start the maintenance program immediately in order to avoid having two separate shutdowns," said Chief Executive Hugues Jacquemin.

The company said that pre-stripping activity is currently underway as part of phase 1 of an expansion program that could potentially add eight years to the mine life. Stripping is being conducted on a continuous 24 hour basis over an estimated two-month period, added the company.

It further said that phase 1 permitting requires a Certificate of Authorization from Quebec's Ministere de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP) to mine to 203 meters above sea level.

Northern said that the application for such authorization is in the final stages and is expected to be submitted by the end of the month. It expects that it will be in a position to initiate production from the expanded pit in the second quarter of next year.

"The company is currently authorized to mine to 209m in the current pit, which is approximately 10m above the water table," said the company. "It has now reached that depth and a relatively small amount of material has inadvertently been mined and blasted slightly below 209m."

The company added that mining operations have been temporarily halted until it confirms there have been "no adverse impacts" and will request a minor amendment to its existing Certificate of Authorization to mine remaining ore in the current pit to 203 meters.

Northern said this could result in a production gap of approximately two- to three months between existing operations and production from the expanded pit.

"We will be working closely with regulatory authorities to address this situation as we work to extend the life of this strategic Canadian asset and to create a secure, sustainable North American supply chain for one of the minerals most critical to meeting rapidly growing demand from regional and global battery markets," added the CEO.

The company's shares were last seen down $0.025 to $0.19 on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Price: 0.19, Change: -0.03, Percent Change: -11.63