Grafite e grafene i materiali del futuro ?

[PIZZODIGINO]

Northern Graphite Files Preliminary Prospectus for Equity Offering
​

Ottawa, Ontario – June 16, 2015 – Northern Graphite Corporation (“Northern” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: NGC; OTCQX:NGPHF) is pleased to announce that it has filed and obtained a receipt for a preliminary short form prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia for a proposed public offering of up to 3,906,250 units at a price of $0.64 per unit for gross proceeds of up to $2,500,000 (the “Offering”). Each unit will consist of one common share, and one-half of one common share purchase warrant, of the Company. Each whole warrant will be exercisable to acquire one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.80 per share for a period of 24 months. The Offering is being made on a best efforts, fully marketed basis through Secutor Capital Management Corporation as agent.

Secutor will have the option, exercisable in whole or in part and at any time not later than the 30th day following the closing, to purchase up to an additional 15% of the Offering to cover over-allocations, if any, and for market stabilization purposes.

The Offering is subject to usual closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Northern intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to fund ongoing permitting necessary for the construction and operation of a mine at the Bissett Creek Project, to conduct additional product qualification work to further develop its technologies for purifying graphite and making spherical graphite, and for general working capital.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

Focus Graphite Inc. Announces Strategic Offtake Agreements With Grafoid Inc.


Agreements Safeguard Security of Future Revenue for Focus Graphite's Lac Knife Project and Supply for the Commercialization of Grafoid's Mesograf™ Product Applications


OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 22, 2015) - Focus Graphite Inc., (TSX VENTURE:FMS)(OTCQX:FCSMF)(FRANKFURT:FKC) ("Focus" or the "Company") an advanced stage graphite mining development company and sole owner of the high-grade Lac Knife, Québec natural flake graphite deposit, is pleased to announce it has entered into two offtake agreements with Grafoid Inc., a global leader in graphene application development.
The first offtake agreement (the "Energy Offtake") commits Grafoid to acquire, at its discretion, up to an annual maximum of 1,000 tonnes of high-purity (98.3% total carbon "Ct")(1) large flake (+80 mesh) graphite concentrate annually from the Lac Knife Project for 10 years, representing up to 6.8% of the projected annual production of 14,606 tonnes of high-purity large flake concentrate.
(1) 98.3% Ct purity is the average of 6 pilot plant runs. The pilot plant program was completed in 2013 by SGS Canada Inc., located in Lakefield, Ontario. See news release dated August 21, 2013.
The second offtake agreement (the "Polymer Offtake") commits Grafoid to acquire, at its discretion, up to 25,000 tonnes of 97.8% Ct (average concentrate grade for all flake sizes) graphite concentrate annually from the Lac Knife Project for 10 years, representing up to 56.4% of the projected total annual production of 44,300 tonnes (all flake sizes).
Mr. Gary Economo, Chief Executive Officer of Focus Graphite, announced that the two companies have set forth initial terms for two offtake agreements. "The strong relationship and strategic alignment between the two companies is reflected in these agreements. Focus Graphite benefits from a substantial ongoing future revenue stream while Grafoid is assured a secure supply to meet customer needs," said Mr. Economo.
Grafoid is a Canadian graphene research and development company that invests in the development of industrial-scale graphene applications and technologies, in partnership with major global corporations and academic institutions. Grafoid's graphene products are developed under the trade name of Mesograf™.
Focus is the largest single shareholder in Grafoid Inc. holding 7,800,000 Grafoid common shares valued at US$39 million.(2)
(2) Grafoid Inc. is a private company that has raised nearly US$20 million and completed acquisitions at US$5 a share, as referenced in a company release on the acquisition of ALCERECO and in investment analyst coverage by NY-based JGL Partners LLC.
Energy Offtake Agreement
Once the Lac Knife Project comes into production, the "Energy Offtake" is intended to supply Grafoid's needs for a range of next-generation graphene-based automotive batteries, batteries for consumer electronics, and energy storage applications. Customer requirements would come from Grafoid, its subsidiaries, acquisitions and/or joint venture partnerships.
Under the initial terms of the Energy Offtake agreement, Grafoid would pay Focus Graphite C$1 million over a 12-month period, with the first payment being on or before September 30, 2015, for the right of first refusal to purchase up to the annual maximum of 1,000 tonnes and would also give Grafoid the first right of refusal to extend and expand the offtake agreement for an additional 10-year period. The pricing for an additional 10-year period will be set at market price less 10%.
Pricing for the offtake is derived from the Technical Report on The Lac Knife Graphite Feasibility Study(3) for high-purity large flake (98.3% Ct) graphite concentrate which is US$1,910/tonne, minus 10%. Accordingly, Focus estimates that the Company could record approximately US$17.2 million in revenue under the first 10-year term of the agreement, if fully exercised.
(3) Prices from table 19.3, page 215, NI 43-101 Technical Report On The Lac Knife Graphite Feasibility Study, August 8, 2014, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 by Met-Chem Canada Inc. Prices in the technical report were from an independent market study carried out by UK-based Industrial Minerals Data, on world supply and demand for flake graphite concentrate that provided a price forecast for the period 2014-2017.
Polymer Offtake Agreement
Once the Lac Knife Project comes into production, the Polymer Offtake is intended to supply Grafoid's needs for a range of graphite-based polymer applications for the automotive and aerospace industry. Customer requirements would come from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 or Tier 2 suppliers. This area of commercial application development holds considerable promise for Grafoid as OEMs are looking for lighter and stronger composite materials to replace expensive carbon fiber and that ultimately reduce cost, increase fuel savings and build longer life into those components used in transportation industries.
The patented graphite-polymer process was developed by Grafoid's wholly owned subsidiary, Graflow Inc., in partnership with Rutgers University's AMIPP Advanced Polymer Center.
Under the initial terms of the Polymer Offtake agreement, Grafoid would pay Focus Graphite C$1 million over a 12-month period, with the first payment being on or before September 30, 2015, for the right of first refusal to purchase up to the annual maximum of 25,000 tonnes of the projected total annual production of all flake size graphite concentrate. Grafoid would also have the first right of refusal to extend the offtake agreement for an additional 10-year period. The pricing for an additional 10-year period will be set at market price less 10%.
Pricing for the offtake is derived from the Technical Report on The Lac Knife Graphite Feasibility Study(4) for blended average market pricing which is US$1,713/tonne, minus 10%. Accordingly, Focus estimates that the Company could record approximately US$385.4 million in revenue under the first 10-year term of the agreement, if fully exercised.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

ma è fallita ?

June 29, 2015
Flinders Clarifies Disclosure
Vancouver, Canada - Flinders Resources Limited ("Flinders" or the "Company") (TSXV: FDR) wishes to clarify its disclosure relating to the status of production at its 100% owned Woxna graphite mine and processing plant in Sweden ("Woxna"). The Company has completed stage 1 of its development plan with the successful restart of the plant and mine, commissioning and establishment of meaningful graphite production at Woxna, however, commercial production, as determined under accepted accounting practice considering International Financial Reporting Standards, has not yet been achieved.

Commercial production is a convention for determining the point in time at which the commissioning of the mine and plant has been completed after which production costs are no longer capitalized and are reported as operating costs. The determination of when commercial production commences is based on several qualitative and quantitative factors.

The Woxna processing facility was refurbished and upgraded with new equipment in the first half of 2014 after which the processing plant commenced operation by feeding stockpiled graphitic material into the plant during July 2014. The plant was operated until the end of 2014 on stockpiled graphitic rock and mining of graphitic rock commenced in Q1 2015. The freshly mined graphitic rock was fed into the Woxna processing facility and operated at normal design capacity producing graphite concentrate inventory. This inventory was stockpiled instead of sold due to declining global flake graphite demand during 2015 that has pushed prices to a four year low. As previously disclosed, given these weakening conditions, the Board of Flinders has chosen to reduce production at Woxna and only supply larger volumes when improved graphite prices return thus conserving working capital.

The Woxna project has never defined a mineral reserve and the previous preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") on Woxna dated October 29, 2013, has been superseded by the Company's current technical report dated May 11, 2015 that increased the measured and indicated mineral resource on Woxna to 7.7Mt @ 9.3% Cg so the PEA is no longer valid. The decision to recommence mining at Woxna was not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability as the Company is of the view that the establishment of mineral reserves is not necessary. There is increased uncertainty and risk of economic and technical failure associated with such production decisions. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues.

The Board of Flinders is of the view that the costs of undertaking a feasibility study for a brownfield project of this type and scale is cost prohibitive. Therefore, the Company determined it was the most responsible utilization of financial resources to restart the mine and processing plant to establish itself in the graphite market as quickly as possible to develop credible sales and marketing presence. The Company acknowledges that there is increased uncertainty and risk of economic and technical failure associated with such production decisions not supported by pre-feasibility and feasibility studies that are structured for a large greenfield project. With the cost of this brownfield project, Flinders believes its financial decision to restart the Woxna mine was justified without the contribution from an extensive series of studies.

It is noteworthy that the Woxna mine and processing facility currently has all environmental, permitting, legal, title, sociopolitical approvals in place and is in operation. It was concluded that the risk of restarting the plant was manageable which is demonstrated in the cost effective manner the facility was refurbished and restarted for a low capital cost and rapidly integrated into the graphite market. As previously mentioned the graphite market is at a 4 year low so the decision was made to operate the plant on a production ready status until the graphite market conditions improve. The Woxna plant can be restarted in a matter of days once viable economics return to the graphite market. The qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 for the Woxna project, Blair Way, President and Chief executive Officer and a director of the Company, and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.

On behalf of the Board,

"Blair Way"
Blair Way, President and CEO

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

[FONT=Arial,Bold][FONT=Arial,Bold]

LOMIKO RECEIVES DRILLING PERMIT FOR 75 - 100 DRILL HOLES AT LA LOUTRE​

CRYSTALLINE FLAKE GRAPHITE PROPERTY AND MONITORS SALES AND REVENUE​

DEVELOPMENTS AT GRAPHENE 3D LAB​

JULY 6, 2015 TSX-V: LMR​

Vancouver, BC, New York, NY & Montreal, QC​

​

[/FONT]​

[/FONT]- LOMIKO METALS INC. (TSX-V:LMR,​

OTC:LMRMF, FSEH8B) (the “Company”) and Canada Strategic Metals (TSX-V: CJC) are​

pleased to announce they have received two drilling permit for 5,000 metres each at the La​

Loutre Crystalline Flake Graphite Properties located in Quebec.​

"Approximately 10,000 metres of drilling are planned at La Loutre. Drilling should reach a vertical​

depth of no more than 150 meters, the “rule-of-thumb” physical depth limit of a standard open​

pit.", stated A. Paul Gill, CEO, "Our goal is to become a low-cost producer of graphite in Quebec.​

A good example of an open pit mining operation established on this principal is the Imerys​

Carbon and Graphite Mine located nearby."​

After the current program is complete, the property will be assessed for a resource and if​

warranted, a pre-economic assessment (PEA). The primary focus are intersections which start​

within 15 metres of the surface as highlighted below. Viable near surface mineralization reduces​

the amount of waste rock that needs to be moved, reducing overall cost of the project and​

reducing environmental impact. Recent PEA publications in the graphite industry indicating​

capital expenditures of 100 million dollars or more for developing a project and a oversupply of​

graphite projects requiring sustained prices of over $ 2500 per tonne prices stress the need to​

deliver a low CAPEX Project with sustainable costs in a small, volatile market.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

Credo che il calo delle materie prime ci stia molto penalizzando. Speriamo che i prezzi non scendano troppo, altrimenti le miniere di grafite non sono più redditizie.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

Published: Thursday, 23 July 2015 07:27 Energizer Resources Inc. (TSX: EGZ) (OTCQX: ENZR) (WKN: A1CXW3) (“Energizer” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that UK-based Haydale Graphene Industries PLC (“Haydale”) (AIM: HAYD), a global leader in the processing and application of graphene nanomaterials, has verified that the Company’s Molo flake graphite has passed initial testing to be a viable source of graphene nanoplatelets for development of graphene inks for printed and flexible electronics.
Using Haydale’s patent-pending plasma treatment process and ink formulation expertise, Molo flake graphite concentrate was successfully functionalized into graphene nanoplatelets, which were then used to successfully produce a prototype graphene ink.
Haydale’s CEO Ray Gibbs, stated, “The purpose of these initial tests was to ascertain if Energizer’s flake graphite concentrate could successfully create a graphene printing ink using our plasma functionalization technology. Initial test results were very positive, showing the Molo concentrate had improved bulk density, particle size distribution, surface area and enhanced sheet resistivity when compared to conventional carbon inks. The next stage of testing is to conduct performance testing but these initial tests would indicate an enhanced product. This is promising material”.
The testing procedure involved processing flake concentrate produced from Energizer’s pilot plant, which was then plasma treated and analyzed in accordance with Haydale standard operating procedures and conditions. Testing also revealed that the best performance results were achieved using Molo’s smallest flake (-200 mesh), which is significant because -200 mesh material is the least saleable flake size. As per Company’s February 5, 2015 news release titled, Energizer Resources Inc. Announces Positive Results of its Feasibility Study, only 21.1% of the Molo flake distribution is classified as -200 mesh (small flake) , at a purity of 97.5% carbon that can be achieved with simple flotation alone. 78.9% of the Molo flake distribution is classified as medium, large and jumbo flake (+200 mesh to +48 mesh), with 46.4% specifically being classified as the premium large and jumbo flake (+80, +65 and +48 mesh).
The resulting data was evaluated against a myriad of metrics, including particle size distribution, tapped bulk density and titration (acid measurement).
Table 1 shows the resulting analysis of the plasma-functionalized powders, which passed 100% of Haydale’s standard analysis procedures.
Table 1. Powder Data Summary

Energizer​

concentrate​

PSD​

Tapped bulk density​

Acid Number​

D10 (µm)​

D50 (µm)​

D90 (µm)​

(kg/m3)​

(mg/KOH)​

Raw​

20.63​

54.66​

107.91​

417​

0.71​

Processed​

20.19​

60.97​

118.21​

366​

3.44​

The ink was screen printed in accordance to Haydale’s ISO 9001 quality control protocols. The ink was analyzed using a 4-point probe to measure electrical conductivity. Solids content and rheology were also measured. Table 2 shows typical improvements in normalized sheet resistivity of the Energizer graphene ink. These results exceeded those of standard carbon-only based inks available in the market today.
Table 2. Graphene Ink Data Summary

Energizer Ink
Solids
Viscosity
Sheet Resistivity (normalized to 25 microns)
%
Pa.s
Ohm/sq. (avg.)
Ohm/sq. (standard deviation)
INKENRG01
39.3
2.9-3.8
27.6
4.6

Conductive Graphene Inks
Graphene is a single-atom-thick sheet of flake graphite and is the lightest, thinnest and strongest material ever discovered in addition to being chemically stable, flexible and extremely conductive.
One of the first commercial products manufactured from graphene is conductive inks. A conductive ink results in a printed object that conducts electricity. These inks can be used to print circuits and other electronic components onto cheap, flexible materials such as paper, plastic and fabrics, for wearable electronics.
One example where printable graphene inks are now ready for commercial use is in low-cost radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and wireless sensors, where the antennas can be flexible, environmentally friendly and cheaply mass-produced.
ABOUT HAYDALE GRAPHENE INDUSTRIES
Haydale Graphene Industries PLC, based in South Wales UK, is a global leader in the facilitation and application of graphenes and other nanomaterials in fields such as inks, sensors, energy storage, photovoltaics, composites, paints and coatings. Leveraging their expertise in identifying and enabling graphene-based technologies, Haydale works with raw material producers to add value to their base products and assist in tailoring graphene-based applications to the end user.
Haydale has developed a patent pending proprietary scalable plasma process to functionalize graphene and other nanomaterials. This enabling technology provides Haydale with a rapid and highly cost efficient method of supplying tailored solutions to enhance applications for both raw material suppliers and product manufacturers.
Haydale’s functionalization technology is low-energy and environmentally friendly, using a low pressure plasma process that treats both organic mined fine powder and other synthetically produced nanomaterial powders producing high quality few-layered graphenes and graphene nanoplatelets. The process can functionalize with a range of chemical groups, where the amount of chemicals can be tailored to the customer needs.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

Nonostante continuino ad uscire notizie di avanzamento dei lavori in prospettiva di iniziare le estrazioni, i titoli della grafite stanno facendo segnare un calo pauroso.
Forse ciò è dovuto al calo generale delle materie prime.
Anche la Flinders Resources, che ha già iniziato le estrazioni, è letteralmente crollata e rischia il fallimento.
Io pensavo di avere trovato la gallina dalle uova d'oro e invece eccomi qui a piangere lacrime amare e a leccarmi le ferite per le grandi perdite che sto subendo.
Mi sono fatto ingolosire dalle notizie che avevo letto in merito alla grande richiesta di grafite per vari scopi, primo fra tutti le batterie agli ioni di litio.
Grande affidamento avevo fatto anche sulla Tesla e le sue auto elettriche, ma per quelle ci vorrà ancora molto tempo.
Insomma un' enorme delusione e una gran perdita di denaro.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

The Canadians gave us the wonderful phrase "junior" to describe a mining or oil exploration company without massive resources or global reach. And some of those juniors have incredibly valuable reserves or important competitive advantages in extracting those reserves... or both.
My colleague, Nick Hodge, does a great job ferreting out tremendous value among the juniors. For instance, last week's issue of Nick's Early Advantage newsletter featured four names, and all four are TSX-V-listed. The man knows his juniors.
Nick knows that market much better than I do, but I have been researching one Canadian junior miner that I believe could be as interesting as the ones Nick has highlighted.
Lomiko Metals (TSX-V: LMR) has a unique position as a miner of graphite and, through an equity holding, as a producer of graphene.
Graphite is an allotrope of carbon, so its atoms are bonded together differently than other forms of pure carbon with different atomic structure, like diamonds. Graphene is another carbon allotrope, but unlike graphite and diamonds, its atoms are arranged in a two-dimensional array. This gives graphene all sorts of wonderful properties.
Graphene is super-strong, super-light, conducts heat much more efficiently than metals, and conducts electricity over extremely wide distances with minimal energy loss. Yes, it's a superconductor!
Graphite can be dissolved to extract graphene, and Lomiko's main mining project will be the source of the graphite for its equity-partner's graphene projects. Lomiko recently took a 40% interest in Canada Strategic minerals' La Loutre mine in Quebec.

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The two companies recently announced the presence of multiple high-grade flake graphite samples at La Loutre with full-scale mining expected to commence soon. Lomiko also wholly owns a separate graphite mine elsewhere in Quebec.
So, they have the supply, and the demand comes through Lomiko's stake in publicly-traded (also on the TSX-V) Graphene 3D Labs. Lomiko recently announced an increase in its stake in Graphene 3D Labs to 10.7%. Graphene 3D recently began commercial sales of Conductive Graphene Filament for 3D printing, and I believe the sky is the limit for the company.
I have had the opportunity to meet Graphene 3D's management and to spend copious amounts of time with Lomiko's CEO, A. Paul Gill. As cool as it is to watch a plastic widget be created almost magically before your eyes via 3D printing, the real upside here, in my opinion, is through Lomiko's 40% ownership in a separate, private company: Graphene Energy Storage Devices Corp.
Graphene ESD has undertaken a research partnership with Stony Brook University on Long Island to develop new supercapacitor designs for energy storage. I'm out of space here, but I'll describe in a future column how I believe graphene's superconductive properties will change the world of energy storage.
Just one of the many great stories found by sifting through the various companies that compose the TSX-V. Out of favor among mainstream investors, perhaps, but certainly not bereft of companies with money-making ideas.
Cheers,

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

Zenyatta Ventures and Ballard Power Collaborate on Fuel Cell Technology Related to Energy Storage; Testing by Ballard on Albany Graphite Exhibited High Thermal and Corrosion Resistance Properties.
Thunder Bay, ON
12 August 2015
Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. (“Zenyatta” or “Company”) (TSXV: ZEN) is pleased to announce that it plans to collaborate with Ballard Power Systems Inc. (“Ballard”) (TSX: BLD) on high purity graphite required in components of fuel cell technology. A first step screening process on Zenyatta’sAlbanygraphite confirmed its suitability for use in the bipolar plate (“BPP”) and gas diffusion layer (“GDL”) for fuel cells. High thermal stability and corrosion resistance is critical in the performance of these components in fuel cells. This research into fuel cell innovation was supported by technical, advisory services and a financial contribution from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).

Highlights:

Zenyatta graphite exhibits high thermal stability and corrosion resistance under Ballard testing;
Early testing shows Albany graphite to be suitable for BPP and GDL fuel cell components;
Zenyatta and Ballard plan to build components and further test these in fuel cells.

Dr. Rajesh Bashyam, Senior Research Scientist, R&D for Ballard stated, “Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) results showed that all Albany graphite samples had high thermal stability under the Ballard standard TGA protocol. Under this protocol most forms of graphite undergo complete thermal decomposition at around 860°C to lose all carbon. On the other hand, Zenyatta’sAlbanygraphite samples only lost 60 - 65% even at 1000°C. The detailed investigation clearly indicated that the Albany graphite exhibits excellent thermal stability and this can be used advantageously in the sub-components of fuel cells, in particular as the gas diffusion layer material. Also, corrosion resistance is an important requirement for an electrically conductive material like graphite used as a component material in fuel cells. Our testing results revealed that Zenyatta graphite samples of a certain particle size were found to be more corrosion resistant than typical graphite.”

The initial test screening was conducted by Ballard for purity, particle size, corrosion resistance, thermal stability and other desirable properties for use in fuel cells. These tests revealed Zenyatta’s Albany graphite material to be suitable for use in hydrogen fuel cells with further advanced testing planned. Testing results were obtained from a lab-scale sample provided by SGS Canada Inc. (‘SGS’) solely for the purpose of providing early evaluation on the suitability and effectiveness ofAlbanygraphite in these component applications.

Dr. Bharat Chahar, VP of Market Development for Zenyatta stated, “We are very pleased with these results from the Ballard testing. The purity and particle size of theAlbanygraphite material provided was already in the range needed for fuel cell applications, and therefore no further milling or purification was needed. Due to simple mineralogy, high crystallinity and desirable particle size distribution, Zenyatta’sAlbanygraphite has shown first screening specification ranges needed for the hydrogen fuel cell components. While further tests are ongoing to verify other performance characteristics, this initial feedback on results is extremely encouraging and quite promising for our upcoming advanced testing.”

Zenyatta commenced a market development program several months ago to initiate validation of Albany graphite in high purity graphite applications. Since the start of this program, the Company has had detailed conversations with more than 35 graphite end-users, academic labs and third party testing facilities in Europe, North America and Asia under confidentiality agreements. Many of these organizations requested a specified amount of purifiedAlbanygraphite produced at the SGS site during the development of a process flow sheet. The samples produced at SGS are experimental in nature and may differ slightly from batch to batch and may also differ from the final product in the future. However these samples are representative of the product that could be processed and provide a good initial assessment and guidance for the potential ofAlbanygraphite for various applications.

The goal of these initial samples was to screenAlbanygraphite for suitable applications while gathering feedback from the end-users and testing facilities to improve the overall properties for high value applications. The Company is now starting to receive feedback from several end-users and independent labs, some of which received repeat samples. Information from this initial test program will be used to further define the Company’s product and market strategy and set the stage for next steps in development. Zenyatta plans to provide its stakeholders with brief periodic updates on the progress as meaningful information becomes available on the market and business development.

Fuel cells and batteries are used in energy conversion and storage applications. A battery as an energy storage device will stop producing electrical energy when the chemical reactants are consumed and then needs to be recharged. The fuel cell is an energy conversion device and will produce electrical energy as long as the fuel and the oxidant are fed to the electrodes. There are many types of fuel cells used in various end-use applications including transportation, industrial equipment, stationary power generation, back-up power, aerospace and defense. Various fuel cell technologies have been developed to convert many different fuels to electricity at high efficiencies. While fuel cells were first developed in 1960’s for niche applications such as generation of power for space vehicles, a large amount of R&D has been conducted over the last fifty years and resulted in much wider use of this technology. It is now considered a “green technology” for use in many applications. Since the fuel cells can be designed to use different forms of fuel, this is one of the leading technologies for sustainable generation of power in small to medium sized industrial applications.

Graphite for this market has to meet many challenging performance characteristics before it can be used in a Fuel Cell. The traditional graphite material used in bipolar plates is usually purified using expensive hydrofluoric (‘HF’) chemical or thermal processes. Zenyatta has developed an innovative purification system on its unique graphite material that does not require use of these traditional and environmentally damaging processes.

Graphite is used in the bipolar plate as an electrically and thermally conductive additive. Bipolar plates, which are a major component of fuel cells, are made from high purity graphite. These plates need to be impermeable to gases, have good electrical conductivity, high strength, low weight, good resistance to corrosion and should be easy to manufacture in large quantities.
Graphite must be high-grade (> 99.9% C) with low impurities with a viable, low cost purification process. Smaller amounts of graphite or carbon materials are used in the gas diffusion layers and the membrane electrode assembly of fuel cells, as a catalyst support, as coatings for the bi-polar plates, and in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) components. Gas diffusion layers use high purity, fine graphite powders for controlled porosity and low electrical resistance.
Based on research and dialogue with end-users, at this point in time, Zenyatta expects to have a targeted market application segmentation which includes 20-25% for high purity graphite in Fuel Cell products, 25-30% in Lithium-ion batteries, 25-30% in powder metallurgy and 15-30% from other applications. The Company is in discussion with end-users on other types of high purity applications that could possibly change the market segmentation. Markets for fuel cells using hydrogen as fuel are growing rapidly and high performance graphite is a significant component of these fuel cells. More information on the hydrogen fuel cells and their end-use markets is available on Zenyatta’s web site.

 

[PIZZODIGINO]

August 18, 2015
Flinders Signs Contract with Chinese High Purity Graphite Specialist
Vancouver, Canada - Flinders Resources Limited ("Flinders" or the "Company") (TSXV: FDR) announces the signing of a new contract with a strategic Chinese partner with well-established design, build and operate capabilities in high purity graphite production. The relationship with the Chinese partner continues to position Flinders as a supplier of choice to the rapidly expanding and game changing lithium ion battery energy storage industry.

Blair Way, President & CEO states, "As the only public company with a modern western mine and production facility able to produce natural flake graphite, Flinders is uniquely placed to take a leading role in the supply of high-purity graphite to the lithium ion battery market. China is presently the leader in graphite purification technology, and is the primary supplier of high-purity natural flake graphite to the battery sector. By partnering with experts in the high purity field, Flinders gains a competitive edge for the timely transition into the high-purity market."

Product from Flinders Woxna graphite plant in Sweden has already been shipped to China and detailed bench-scale test work is underway to enhance the high-purity flowsheet developed for Woxna graphite in 2001 (see Flinders' news release June 25, 2015). Planned work will verify all technical aspects of the purification process and define economic parameters. The next stage of work will aim to finalize the detailed design of the high-purity graphite flowsheet. The Chinese partner selected by Flinders has the ability to supply all key elements of a high-purity graphite plant.

As reported in Flinders' new release dated June 22, 2015, the Woxna plant remains on a production-ready status and can be restarted in a matter of hours once viable economics return to the graphite market. Flinders strategy is to position itself as a supplier of choice to the high-purity graphite market, while conserving the Company's strong cash position of C$4M, in the face of four year lows in natural flake graphite prices. Graphite supply from Woxna to traditional refractory markets will be restricted until profit margins improve.