A Canadian mining company,.Falcon Energy is taking the West African nation of Guinea to court, demanding $100 million in compensation for a graphite project it says was stolen from them last year.

Falcon Energy Materials, a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, has officially launched international arbitration proceedings against the Guinean government. The dispute centers on the company’s Lola graphite project, a key asset that Falcon says was unlawfully taken from them in May 2025.

The company has filed its case at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), arguing that Guinea revoked its mining license without warning and has so far refused to pay any compensation for the move.

“We regret that it has come to this,” said Matthieu Bos, CEO of Falcon Energy Materials, in a statement. “But we are fully prepared to present our claim and fight for the value of what we built in Guinea.”

The Lola project was meant to be more than just a mine. Falcon had planned to use the graphite from Guinea to feed a new processing plant in Morocco that would produce material for electric vehicle batteries. The seizure of the mine throws the future of that entire supply chain plan into doubt.

Bos emphasized that the company has the financial backing to see the legal fight through. Following a recent fundraising round, Falcon’s shareholders are fully behind the arbitration case and have provided enough funding to cover the legal bills.

The arbitration is being conducted under rules that allow the eventual ruling to be enforced in more than 150 countries, giving Falcon significant leverage if they win the case.

To lead the legal battle, Falcon has hired LALIVE, a well-known international law firm with expertise in high-stakes arbitration.

While the legal team prepares to argue the case in Washington, D.C., Bos says the company’s focus remains split between the courtroom and the drawing board. “We will keep refining our claim, but we are also keeping our focus firmly on the development of our anode plant in Morocco,” he said.

For now, the Lola project remains in Guinea’s hands, but the fight over its future—and the $100 million price tag Falcon has placed on it—is just getting started.