Grafite e grafene i materiali del futuro ?

[PIZZODIGINO]

Buongiorno a tutti gli appassionati di grafite e grafene;
constato che per il momento l'argomento grafite/grafene è trattato tra pochi intimi; secondo me questo è il momento giusto per accumulare azioni a buoni prezzi; quando l'argomento grafite/grafene sarà di moda, allora sarà difficile acquistare e sperare di fare grossi guadagni. Io nel mio piccolo mi sto posizionando su 7 aziende canadesi: Northern Graphite, Mason Graphite, Zenyatta Ventures, Focus Graphite, Lomiko Metals, Energizer Resources e Flinders Resources.
Io mi sono posto un obiettivo temporale di due anni, dato che le miniere inizieranno l'attività estrattiva tra il dicembre 2015 e il giugno 2016 (tranne la Flinders che ha già iniziato il luglio 2014).
Se le aspettative verranno rispettate ci sarà di cui essere soddisfatti dell'investimento.
Un saluto a tutti voi.

 

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Jim Rogers Thinks Tesla Motors Could Pick Mason Graphite

James West: Okay so let’s talk a bit about the emerging electric automotive industry. BYOD and Tesla are at the forefront of battery-powered automotive transport. Where are the batteries going to come from to support mass adoption of cars and buses worldwide in your opinion?
Jim Rogers: Haa…I should ask you – you’re Canadian. It’s an extremely good question – yes! There’s going to be a huge bull market in something – if electric vehicles take the place of hydrocarbon engines – yes - there will be a staggering bull market in something, and batteries will be one of those things down the road. And it looks as though electric vehicles have a positive future as we go forward.
An interesting aside, Henry Ford’s wife used to love here electric vehicle. She hated all his combustion engine vehicles cause she liked her electric vehicle so much. There’s no question we’re going to have more and more electric vehicles, because governments like them, politicians like them. It’s a way to get vehicles without having to buy energy from those ‘evil’ Arabs or whoever those ‘evil’ suppliers are. So no…it’s going to happen.
But two things – one, it’s a long time before that happens. And secondly, electric vehicles take energy too. Electricity is made from energy – it doesn’t just drop out of the sky.
James West: Alright. So let’s talk about – Tesla mentioned that they’re going to build this giant ‘gigafactory’ and in view of the current technology in which greater than 50% of the electric battery is comprised of graphite, do you think that there are any companies out there that could supply natural graphite to Tesla for its Gigafactory?
Jim Rogers: Well, yes – the answer to your question is yes. I have a little bit of an interest in one that I think has the largest deposit of graphite in the world, and it’s run by an extremely knowledgeable group of people, and I know, that if graphite has a future, which it does, and graphene, then this company’s going to do extremely well. And I do know, from what the scientists tell me, that graphene has a huge future, whether it’s in automobiles – in everything. The scientists say – this is not Jim Rogers talking – the scientists say, graphene is going to be as important to the world as the internet. It’s going to be as important to the world as electricity. Now, I’m not a scientist, and I don’t know, but I do know a couple of guys won the Nobel Prize recently because they came up with graphene, so people who are more knowledgeable than me think that graphene, and therefore graphite, has a staggering future.
James West: Sure. Okay so what company is it you’re talking about that is in the graphite space?
Jim Rogers: It’s called Mason Graphite. My little bit of knowledge tells me that they are probably the best place because they know more about producing graphene than most other people, plus they also have a mine. And a lot of people are good at producing graphene from graphite, but it’d be good to have the graphite as well. So they have a mine, and they also have intellectual property. And the people who run it were running the largest graphite company in the world – they were French – and then they left, and took over this company.
James West: Are you talking about Imerys?
Jim Rogers: Yes. And by the way, for what it’s worth, Mason Graphite has the government of Québec as their partner, putting up a lot of the money. So that makes them a little different from many typical Canadian mining stocks – penny mining stocks. I mean, the government of Québec certainly makes mistakes, but they’re involved, and lots of other people are involved, so in my view, it’s probably the place to play graphite or graphene. But everybody has to make their own decision.
James West: Sure. So in your due diligence process, were you able to determine that Mason Graphite has the type and size of deposit and graphite present that would probably serve a gigafactory like Tesla?
Jim Rogers: It could, yes it definitely could, and maybe I have no idea who is going to provide Tesla. It certainly could be these guys. I have an interest, but it doesn’t mean other people should have an interest unless they do a lot of homework.
Important Disclosure: Both James West and Jim Rogers are shareholders of Mason Graphite LLC. No endorsement of Mason Graphite is herein expressed or implied, and readers are advised to consult a duly authorized investment advisor in their jurisdiction before considering any investment.

 

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E il titolo crolla

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sep 2, 2014) - Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. ("Zenyatta" or "Company") (TSX VENTURE:ZEN) (ZENYF) is pleased to provide an update of the pilot plant & metallurgical testing at SGS Canada Inc. ('SGS') facility in Lakefield, Ontario. The flotation pilot plant results, while confirming earlier bench-scale testing, produced a concentrate that has been upgraded at laboratory scale to a high purity and highly crystalline graphite product using a caustic bake based process.



Highlights:
Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry ('GDMS') results show less than 0.05% elemental impurities (or >99.95% purity of highly crystalline graphitic carbon ("Cg"));
No deleterious elemental concerns and verifying good crystal structure (hexagonal with real density of 2.25 g/cc);
Produced samples of high purity graphite material for market evaluation & testing by more than 20 end users.
Additional test work is underway to produce a higher grade flotation concentrate feed to further optimize the purification process and provide extra high purity material for testing by interested parties. This optimization work will provide additional information for the flow sheet and the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) which is to be completed in the 4th quarter.
Bharat Chahar, VP Market Development of Zenyatta stated "The recent work has produced high purity graphite material which has been sent to various potential customers for testing and evaluation and will be sent to others in the coming days. Test work completed to date has confirmed the Zenyatta graphite to have a very good crystal structure (hexagonal) with a very desirable real density of 2.25 g/cc. We have no elemental purity concerns, including sulphur (67 ppm), boron (0.12 ppm) and equivalent boron content ('EBC') of 0.919 ppm. The sulphur and boron are very low with EBC measuring well below the recommended maximum of 5ppm for nuclear applications. The Company will continue to produce a high purity graphite product (for various applications) with strict specifications based on dialogue with interested end users under a signed confidentiality agreement."
Peter Wood, VP Exploration of Zenyatta stated, "The pilot plant has proven to be very useful in the early evaluation and troubleshooting for the flow sheet design. The test-work will continue and provide the necessary engineering data for energy requirements, water treatment, reagent consumption and equipment sizing. We expect to develop a distinctive process for this unique graphite deposit."
Environmental Advantage
The world trend is to develop products for technological applications that need extraordinary performance using ultra-high purity graphite powder at an affordable cost. High purity and highly crystalline graphite material is gaining prominence in the clean-tech sector at a time when Zenyatta discovered an extremely rare (hydrothermal) graphite deposit. The Albany deposit can be upgraded with very good crystallinity without the use of aggressive acids and high temperature thermal treatment therefore having an environmental advantage over other types of upgraded high purity graphite material. Large multi-national corporations need to protect their image (public profile) in this environmentally conscious age. They are positioned as environmentally responsible companies and must remain so in this extremely competitive world. If raw materials, like high purity graphite, are sourced from environmentally damaging processes or jurisdictions, it could seriously harm the company brand.
Aubrey Eveleigh, President and CEO of Zenyatta stated, "Generally speaking, corporations interested in Zenyatta's graphite product are looking for large tonnage (long-life), high quality 'raw material' resources capable of producing a superior and consistent high purity product. They also have a strong interest in an environmentally sound and cost-effective process in a politically stable jurisdiction."
Zenyatta continues to develop the unique Albany Graphite Deposit in Ontario, Canada. The Company's highly crystalline graphite deposit is situated 30 km north of the Trans-Canada Highway, power line and natural gas pipeline near the communities of Constance Lake First Nation and Hearst. A rail line is located 70 km away with an all-weather road approximately 10 km from the graphite deposit.
RPA Inc. estimates showed Indicated Mineral Resources to date totaling 25.1 million tonnes at an average grade of 3.89% graphitic carbon ("Cg"), containing 977,000 tonnes of Cg. In addition, Inferred Mineral Resources delineated to date are estimated to total 20.1 million tonnes at an average grade of 2.20% Cg, containing 441,000 tonnes of Cg. The upcoming PEA technical data will include among other items: open pit mining methods, metallurgy and processing, infrastructure, environment, manpower requirements, marketing and price assumptions, capital and operating costs, life of mine plan and execution plan.
The outlook for the global graphite market is very promising with demand growing rapidly from new applications. Graphite is now considered one of the more strategic elements by many leading industrial nations, particularly for its growing importance in high technology manufacturing and in the emerging "green" industries such as electric vehicle components. The application for graphitic material is constantly evolving due to its unique chemical, electrical and thermal properties. It maintains its stability and strength under temperatures in excess of 3,000°C and is very resistant to chemical corrosion. It is also one of the lightest of all reinforcing elements and has high natural lubricating abilities. Some of these key physical and chemical properties make it critical to modern industry.
GDMS is a technique for the direct determination of trace elements in a variety of materials. GDMS enables the elemental analysis of solid samples by sputtering in a low-pressure DC argon discharge. The sputtered atoms are ionized in this plasma and extracted into the mass spectrometer for separation and detection. Three (3) separate samples were analyzed and the average value is reported. The calculated graphitic carbon ('Cg') purity is by difference of wt % from total elemental impurities. Where GDMS reported an element concentration as below the detection limit, the detection limit concentration value was used in the calculation of total impurity content. All GDMS analyses were performed by Evans Analytical Group in Liverpool, New York. Equivalent boron content ('EBC'), expressed as parts per million (ppm) was calculated according to ASTM C1233-09 (Standard Practice for Determining Equivalent Boron Contents of Nuclear Materials).
The metallurgical test work is being performed under the supervision of Alex Mezei, M.Sc., P.Eng., Director, Engineering Technical Services at SGS Lakefield and Peter Wood, P.Eng., P.Geo., VP Exploration of Zenyatta. Peter Wood and Alex Mezei are the Qualified Person's under National Instrument 43-101 who supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for the disclosure contained in this news release.

 

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sept. 2, 2014) -

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES.​

Flinders Resources Limited ("Flinders") (TSX VENTURE:FDR) and Big North Graphite Corp.("Big North") (TSX VENTURE:NRT) jointly announce that they have entered into a binding letter agreement (the "Letter Agreement") August 29, 2014, under which Flinders will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Big North by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Arrangement"). Upon completion of the Arrangement, Big North will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Flinders.
Under the terms of the Arrangement Big North shareholders will receive one Flinders common share (a "Flinders Share") for each nine Big North common shares (the "Big North Shares") resulting in the issuance of approximately 9 million Flinders Shares in exchange for 81 million Big North Shares.
Blair Way, President and CEO of Flinders, stated: "I am very pleased to announce this acquisition, as it represents the culmination of an extensive search for an asset that can provide Flinders with the next step in our strategy to build a leading global graphite producer. Our successful restart of the Woxna project in Sweden demonstrates Flinders' expertise which will now be directed towards the restart of the Big North El Tejon project. El Tejon has the capacity to be a long term supplier of high quality flake graphite to the expanding North American market, and provide a sustainable alternative to the current Chinese supply."
Spiro Kletas, President and CEO of Big North, stated: "We are pleased to be joining forces with Flinders and see this business combination as a great opportunity for our shareholders to realize value in the combined assets of Flinders and Big North. We welcome the expertise and experience that the Board and Management of Flinders bring to the partnership. They have proven that they can bring a graphite mine to production and have already 'won the race' to graphite production with the Woxna project in Sweden. Importantly, for all stakeholders, consolidating the assets of the two companies will allow us to accelerate the re-start of El Tejon, adding growth, diversification and future potential for the TSX-V's first flake graphite producer. The Board and Management of the two companies share similar strategies and as such, we believe this combination will be a great fit and mutually beneficial."
Terms of the Arrangement
Pursuant to the Letter Agreement:
Big North shareholders will receive one Flinders Share for each nine Big North Shares held.


All outstanding Big North options and warrants will be exchanged or assumed by Flinders and adjusted in accordance with the same exchange ratio.


It is a condition to closing of the Arrangement that all outstanding convertible debentures of Big North (the "Debentures") be converted into Big North Shares or redeemed in accordance with their terms and no Debentures remain outstanding as at the closing of the Arrangement.


Each of Flinders and Big North will undertake a due diligence investigation of the other which must be completed on or before October 6, 2014.


Flinders and Big North have agreed to negotiate in good faith and enter into a definitive arrangement agreement relating to the Arrangement (the "Definitive Agreement") incorporating the terms of the Letter Agreement together with additional representations, warranties, covenants, conditions and agreements as are standard for a transaction of this nature on or before October 17, 2014, or such later date as the parties mutually agree.


The obligation of Flinders and Big North to enter into the Definitive Agreement is subject to each party being satisfied, in its sole discretion, with its due diligence investigation of the other.


Concurrently with the execution of the Definitive Agreement, each director and officer of Big North will enter into a support agreement with Flinders pursuant to which such director or officer will agree, among other things, to vote any Big North Shares which such director or officer holds or exercises control or direction over in favour of the Arrangement.


Big North will pay Flinders a break fee in the amount of $500,000 should Big North terminate the Letter Agreement in certain circumstances.


Big North has agreed that it will not solicit or initiate any discussions concerning any other acquisition proposals.


On completion of the Arrangement, Big North shareholders will gain access to Flinders' graphite portfolio, including the Woxna Graphite Mine which is in operation and Flinders shareholders will gain access to Big North's select graphite assets in Mexico and Canada. It is contemplated that the current management team of Flinders will manage Big North after completion of the Arrangement.
The Arrangement will be subject to standard closing conditions for a transaction of this nature including, without limitation, receipt of all required shareholder, court and regulatory approvals.
The Arrangement may be terminated by either party if closing has not occurred by December 31, 2014, or such later date as the parties mutually agree.
Big North will hold a shareholder meeting to consider and approve the Arrangement no later than December 15, 2014. The terms of the Arrangement will be described in further detail in the Management Information Circular of Big North to be filed with regulatory authorities and mailed to Big North shareholders in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Big North security holders and other interested parties are advised to read the materials relating to the proposed Arrangement that will be filed by Big North with securities regulatory authorities in Canada when they become available. Anyone may obtain copies of these documents when available free of charge at the Canadian Securities Administrators' website at www.sedar.com.
This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase, a solicitation of an offer to sell the shares or a solicitation of a proxy.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

Non capisco davvero perché il titolo Zenyatta Ventures continui a precipitare; ho letto la press release e non vi ho riscontrato notizie negative; forse il mercato si aspettava qualche notizia eclatante. Sono davvero deluso e in più ci stò perdendo dei bei soldi.

Intanto abbiamo visto che Flinders Resources allarga il suo perimetro di competenza e acquisisce la Big North Graphite Corp., senza esborso di cassa, ma con uno scambio di azioni. Direi che è una buona operazione, anche se, pure qui, il mercato ha reagito male e il prezzo delle azioni è sceso parecchio.

Insomma, dovremo aspettare ancora un po' perché la grafite divenga un argomento di moda e scatti la caccia alle azioni delle società minerarie.

 

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notizia della nuova acquisizione di Flinders

August 14, 2014
Big North Releases Tetra Tech Report on El Tejon Flake Graphite Mill - $2.25 - $5 Million USD Estimated to Refurbish the El Tejon Mill


Vancouver, B.C., August 14, 2014 - BIG NORTH GRAPHITE CORP. (TSX-V: NRT) (OTC : BNCIF) (the "Company" or "Big North"), announces that the Company has released a report prepared by Tetra Tech WEI Inc ("Tetra Tech") titled "Grafito De Mexico Property Plant Assessment Report" and dated August 13, 2014, (the "Report") regarding the Company's recently acquired El Tejon project located in Oaxaca, Mexico (the "El Tejon Property"). Big North commissioned the Report as part of its due diligence process and a site visit was completed January 17-20, 2014, by Andre de Ruujiter, P. Eng, of Tetra Tech.

As part of its study, Tetra Tech estimated the cost and start up time required to bring the El Tejon mill back into operation. Highlights include: An estimate of the initial investment cost required to bring Line 1 to operational status is approximately US$2.25 million which also includes infrastructure requirements, equipment and clean-up of the process plant.
A total estimated investment cost of approximately US$5 million will be required to bring the process plant to full operational capability.
In the Report, Tetra Tech stated, "Following the visual assessment made of the process plant and its facilities during the site visit, the following general recommendations can be made. The initial objective should be the restoration of Line 1 to production status at the nominal rate of 250 t/d within a nominal period of (say) 6 months of receiving the decision for the project to proceed. The additional objective is for Line 2 to be operational within say 18 months of the project go-ahead thereby increasing the plant feed rate to 500 t/d capacity."

The full Report is available on the Company's website, www.bignorthgraphite.com, on the El Tejon Flake Graphite page (Big North Graphite Corp. - El Tejon Flake Graphite Mine and Mill - Wed Sep 3, 2014). The Report includes a full breakdown of refurbishing all of the parts in the mill. The Report also includes a generalized overall layout diagram of the mill and a simplified process flow diagram. For pictures of the El Tejon project, please go to the Gallery section of the website -
Big North Graphite Corp. - Gallery - Wed Sep 3, 2014.

Company President Spiro Kletas commented, "We are very pleased with the results of the Report. As we have previously stated, our goal is to be amongst the first TSXV graphite companies to produce and sell graphite. While some mill refurbishment is required, all infrastructure is in place at the El Tejon Property. This significantly reduces start up time and cost. The Company will announce further plans as they are finalized."

The El Tejon Property is a 500 hectare property and consists of the El Tejon flake graphite mine and mill. The El Tejon Property is located in the state of Oaxaca, approx 38 kilometers northwest of the City of Oaxaca, in the town of San Francisco Telixtlahuaca.

The El Tejon Property is the only flake graphite mine to have produced in Mexico. The mine and mill were originally built in 1980 by the Government of Mexico. In 1989, a second processing line was installed to increase the capacity. El Tejon was an open pit mine, and the mill was used to crush, mill, float, dry, screen and pack final product.

The Company has not established mineral resources and has not completed a valid mining study (as defined by NI 43-101) to support a production decision at the El Tejon Property. Historically, a production decision under these circumstances results in much higher economic or technical risk. Furthermore, without a pre-feasibility or feasibility study and a graphite reserve, there can be no assurance that any future operations at El Tejon will be profitable.

 

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notizia della nuova acquisizione di Flinders

Vancouver, B.C., / ACCESSWIRE / August 25, 2014 / BIG NORTH GRAPHITE CORP. (NRT.V) (BNCIF) (the "Company" or "Big North"), announces that the Company has engaged Gestion Ambiental Omega, SC as Permitting Consultants to reactivate all permits required to re-start the El Tejon Flake Graphite Mine and Mill in Oaxaca, Mexico. Gestion Ambiental Omega SC expects to have all permits in place in approximately 6 months.
Further, Big North Graphite has been informed that maintenance and repair work to the El Tejon mill can begin immediately. The Company recently announced that, according to Tetra Tech, the first line at El Tejon can be refurbished in approximately 6 months and would require approximately $2.25 million USD to complete (see News Release of August 14, 2014).
Company President Spiro Kletas commented, "We are pleased to welcome Gestion Ambiental Omega's expertise to this very important aspect in Big North's progress and development. This is a very important step towards our goal of becoming one of the first TSXV listed companies to produce and sell flake graphite. The projected timeframe fits well with Tetra Tech's estimate of 6 months to refurbish Line 1 of the mill."

 

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VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - Sep 5, 2014) - LOMIKO METALS INC. (TSX VENTURE: LMR) (OTCQX: LMRMF) (DH8B.F) (the "Company") reports that Consul-Teck of Val-d'Or has completed prospecting and cartography work on the Quatre Milles West property to investigate the positive VLF survey results reported on July 14, 2014. Samples were taken from several areas indicating significant presence of surface graphite, and channel sampling was performed where mineralized outcrops were well exposed.



"The extent of near surface graphite mineralization at Quatre Milles West is an unexpected surprise that prompted our geological team to investigate further," stated A. Paul Gill, CEO of Lomiko Metals Inc. "Prospecting now confirms we have a new discovery that merits a drilling campaign."
Forty-three grab samples and 39 channel samples were taken during the prospecting campaign along the mineralized zone with visible crystalline flake graphite. Channel samples targeted a mineralized zone along a thick marble unit (2-10 metres) that can be traced for at least 1 km.
The major concentration of significant graphite was observed in carbonate-rich units, such as marble, calcsilicate rocks and some paragneiss. The facies show graphite observed in the zone with alternation of thin decimetric biotite-rich paragneiss and mid-grained marble. The past sedimentology conditions for such basins would suggest significant basin depth that would generate partial-extinction plankton (microorganisms). The presence of pyrrhotite in that lithology is consistent with this hypothesis.
Multiple tectonic episodes created the conditions needed to change the morphology of the lithologies and concentrate the graphite.
Mylonitisation concentrated the graphite into a series of dark, parallel, centimetre-thick layers in a marble that originally showed a low grade. Such zones are planar with varying thicknesses and concentrations that depends on the size of the potential crosscutting lithology.
Most of the VLF anomalies strike E-W and appeared to be associated with faults, rivers, swamps, marshes and moraines. Actual synsedimentary graphite mineralization sub-conforms to foliation, so would have an NE-SW orientation and a thickness of 2-10 m. The current geophysical interpretation does not indicate this orientation.
Locally, a tectonic enrichment of graphite showed an E-W direction, diving lower to the South. The graphite bodies generated by tectonic enrichment will be thin and limited to the fertile lithologies.
Previously-reported drill results at the Quatre Milles property indicate extensive mineralization in the region. The Quatre Milles Project NI 43-101 Technical Report with all Phase I and historical drill results can be found on the Lomiko website. On March 13, 2014, Lomiko closed a financing for $5.5 million for the purpose of advancing the Quatre Milles property and investing in technology.
All the samples were sent for analysis in sealed containers to the Chemex laboratory in Val-d'Or by employees of Consul-Teck. The samples are weighed and identified prior to sample preparation. The samples are crushed to 70% minus 2 mm, then separated and pulverized to 85% passing 75µm. All samples are analyzed for carbon graphite using C-IR18.
Jean-Sebastien Lavallée (OGQ #773), geologist, shareholders and Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

C'è da soffrire ancora; evidentemente l'argomento grafite non è ancora di moda e i prezzi delle azioni subiscono forti scossoni al ribasso.
Chissà se arriverà il giorno in cui scatterà la caccia alle azioni della grafite ?

 

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Toronto,Canada, Sept. 11, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA ) has announced their intentions to build a $6 billion dollar lithium-ion battery factory in Nevada capable of producing enough batteries to power 500,000 vehicles every year. According to industry sources, every electric car requires about 100 lbs. of natural flake graphite. With 11 times more graphite in a lithium-ion battery than lithium, electric vehicles represent a significant future off-take demand for flake graphite.
Tesla alone will require six new mines - double the global demand
The Tesla Giga-Plant, at full operation, will require the equivalent of six new, full-scale graphite mines and would consume the entire amount of flake graphite used today for batteries globally.. This represents a doubling of the world's demand for flake graphite for batteries. Presently, the U.S. does not have any producing graphite mines and imports 100% of its graphite and just last year, the U.S., the United Kingdom and the European Union designated graphite as a critical mineral. It's easy to understand why.
Not all graphite is the same
Graphite comes in basically two forms, powder (amorphous) and flake. Powder is the plentiful and cheap form used in pencils, lubricants, and brake pads. Flake graphite is the scarcer form, it commands the highest selling price and is the only form of graphite that can be used in all 180-plus applications we use on a daily basis that depend upon graphite. Flake graphite is the only form of natural graphite that can be used lithium-ion batteries and is used exclusively in new tech applications such as graphite foils, which are used in almost every consumer electronics product you own to cool your electronics. Flake graphite is the requisite mineral behind nearly all advancements in new innovations and nano-technologies. Flake graphite in its single-layer form is the 'wonder-product' graphene, and is the key raw material used in large-scale energy storage systems and pebble-bed nuclear reactors.
In addition to the graphite used in every lithium-ion battery, portable electronics increasingly rely on graphite to cool components and dissipate heat. Very thin sheets of graphite foil, made exclusively from natural graphite flake, line the insides of electronics and act as both a sealant and a heat sink for all laptop computers, tablets, flat panel televisions, solar panel arrays, cellular phones and smartphones. Graphite foil is one of the fastest growing end-use segments for flake graphite.
Where will we get all that graphite?
Enter Energizer Resources' Molo Graphite project - a world-class flake graphite deposit that you have probably never heard of. Energizer Resources Inc. OTCQX: ENZR, is sitting on the proverbial mother lode. It's 100% owned and operated Molo project in Madagascar is one of the largest, most advanced, high-quality flake graphite deposits in the world. Energizer is just weeks away from releasing a bankable feasibility study on the project and is well positioned to have a first-mover advantage in being major supplier of high quality flake graphite to the world.. Energizer is already at the stage where it has entered into advanced discussions regarding off-take and project investment agreements with over 20 of the world's largest flake graphite buyers and end-users in the refractory, lithium-ion battery and consumer electronics industries. Next steps consist of multi-national companies running full-scale, multi-tonne production runs of graphite-based end products using Energizer's graphite. Pending successful test runs, Energizer would be able to secure a "preferred supplier" status for flake graphite with these potential customers.
The Molo
The Molo 100% flake and it is massive. The NI 43-101 resource of 141 million tones has a mine life of over 130 years and its expandability is virtually limitless. The Molo alone represents less than 1% of the total graphite confirmed on Energizer's property. The graphite at the Molo deposit sits immediately at surface, which means very low-cost, open pit mining with no stripping waste. Energizer has partnered with DRA , Africa's largest mine builder and operator, which ensures a turn-key solution when it comes to construction and operation of the future mine. This provides added confidence for both investors and future customers for the timeline of the mine. . The Molo has passed government environmental permitting, and is within easy trucking to two major sea ports serving transportation corridors to the world's highest graphite demand markets: Japan, China, India and South Korea. Production is targeted for mid-2016.
Market Response
Powerhouse Institutions on both Wall Street and Bay Street have now started to pay attention to Energizer Resources Inc. OTCQX: ENZR. Notable investors are JP Morgan, Canada's largest resource investment bank, Dundee Resources, , and mutual fund giant AGF Group. Analysts covering ENZR with buy recommendation include well known Canadian and European institutions GMP Securities and Stormcrow Capital Ltd.
Profitability
Based upon early and robust economic studies, the sheer size and quality of the deposit, as well as manufacture demand for this specific type of high-quality flake graphite, Energizer expects their investor's payback periods to be only three years with very healthy margins. The Molo is easily expandable and can meet market demand as required.
The stars are aligning for Energizer to supply one of the most innovative materials of our time - applicable in everything from electric vehicles to energy storage to safe nuclear applications. Given everything we now know about graphite and its rising status in the world of strategic minerals, Energizer's Molo Graphite Project represents one vital source of supply and is shaping up to be an undeniable opportunity for investors.
To learn more about Energizer and its Molo Graphite Project, visit Energizer Resources (ENZR) at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsro...rces.com&u=http://www.energizerresources.com/www.energizerresources.com or call 1.416.364.4911