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I couldnt agree with you more. This is a long play, if they make it....
your right, leave things as they are. no soap box needed.
maybe in 5 years we will get to know the wizard.
1st rule never talk about deleted posts.
2nd rule dont talk bad about company.
3rd rule do not question your investment on ihub
4th rule Dont bother expecting communication from our CEO, he's too busy for us commoners.
5th rule if your not happy sell your stocks.
6th rule do you your DD
7th rule Stealth mode!
8th rule this gonna be bigger than Apple.
9th rule Next q we will get earnings.
10th rule We have the most superior dots in the universe.
I don't care anymore there is no love, the honeymoon is over.
It's time to put out, not copy paste q's.
I stopped posting on here.
I'm glad some people have same feeling about this.
I wish this great success, but where is SS? Where is the pack leader? And why no shareholders meeting or webinar. This has been 3+ that we are in the dark.
GLta
Well with overall market sentiment, that doesn't help.
Ride the wave it's going to go back up Eventually.
Explain how apple keeps going down with record earnings?
Apple is worth more than msft yahoo and google combined....
This is a longer term play 2+ years, the key here to this one is there lake knife project.
Like in any business, it's not always pretty. Just need to be patient. BAC will not close shop .
I just read that's it's over reaction. All the bank stocks are trading way below 10x their revenue.
This was in reply to a post by solar express .
Please read that post.
excellent news for Sargent and his company.
Only if qmc's investors would know for a fact that Sargent is our
frontman, and we are in his equation, then we should be cheering and taking out pom poms for those who have some.
Maybe its all coming together this way, I hope it's the case.
GLTA.
How dare you question the integrity of our 24/7 directors.
why question your investment you should sell all your stocks if you're not happy.
I was suggested that.
Go on twitter company needs some visibilty done either than what's done on ihub.
Forget Saudi Arabia I think shareholders are in for a huge surprise in next q.
The news we all been waiting for.
Oh yes Sargent is the key to our success out Canadian link.
Again IMHO
What's stopping them from using other suppliers.
Competitors are only producing inferior low quantity qdots.
They are no match for our dots. Wait a ce more years when they will that plant, we will all be rewarded for all the devoted posts.
Well I would like to meet or hear about the man behind this project. It's pretty a darn long time our CEO has made an appearance other than filing a report. IMHO
Anything that us outsiders don't know?
Please elaborate.
Compliments to the promoters but the recent run in graphite smells too much like lithium
Stockhouse Ticker Trax is equity specific research (Canadian listed and market cap < $300 million) published every Monday to paid subscribers. Our free Friday column may feature companies previously featured to paid subscribers (with a minimum one month delay) or discuss topics of interest to the general investment community and relevant to overall portfolio management.
Market observation:
It is very possible we tested a bottom on many of the small stocks May 9th. Selling was very aggressive on Tuesday but Wednesday morning I witnessed what appeared to be outright panic selling. It subsided across the board by afternoon and Thursday the buy orders were still thin but selling had slowed dramatically.
This doesn't mean we are going to bounce back rapidly anytime soon but it sure improves our odds of a summer rally because many shareholders are refusing to sell much lower and the first significant turn in momentum may attract a lot of buying.
I have mentioned in the past that I use Pinetree Capital (TSX: T.PNP, Stock Forum; $1.12) for an indicator of the overall health of the junior resource sector because they control approx. $300 million worth of micro and small-cap resource stocks.
If you look at their three-year chart you will see where everything hit bottom the summer of 2010 and did very well into February 2011 (PNP gained almost 300%).
By March 2011, junior exploration stocks started coming off the rails and PNP started a downward slide from that $4.20 high in February. Now PNP is back to the 2010 low again. Many investors do not have the money to buy back in and take advantage of these lows but as I watched in late summer 2010 with Pinetree, it didn't take much to turn stocks around once the momentum shifted.
Graphite sector running on unstable fuel cells
Since January there has been a lot of (we will have to call it hype) surrounding graphite and graphite stocks. Only a year ago you couldn’t give away a graphite stock. Now many mining promoters would have you believe it is worth it’s weight in gold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite
What we have seen so far in graphite exploration stocks pales in comparison to what we saw with lithium stocks in 2009. However, the comparisons being made to the growth potential of graphite are almost identical to what we saw with lithium. For those who don’t remember the lithium run, it went something like this.
The lithium sector in 2009 generated junior exploration gains of several hundred percent to almost 1000% within the year. A few have held a good percentage of those “initial” gains but anyone late to the party is sitting on dead money after three years. For some (like WLC) the gains have evaporated entirely. It is great to be on the early bus, but typically the large majority play out the same way.
It was Northern Graphite (TSX: V.NGC, Stock Forum) that started the frenzy in January and several others followed suit.
The graphite company valuations are being driven off very well orchestrated promotion - and kudos to the promoters and financiers. Building momentum is no easy feat in this market. The old saying of selling ice to an eskimo really applies here. If you can move a junior exploration stock in this market, you are very good at what you do.
The money may be moving but fundamentally the play is flawed. When you have the darlings of the junior exploration stocks (gold) hitting such dramatic lows, it is extremely difficult to justify the economics of building a new graphite mine. Gold is comfortable above $1500 per ounce and most juniors are struggling to get a valuation equal to $20 per ounce. Years ago we would see gold at half this price and yet the junior exploration stocks would be comfortably valued at $50 to $200 per ounce.
Lithium remains in the dog house
Graphite is being heavily promoted as an integral part of the explosive growth for electric cars we are still waiting to see – yet have heard about for years. Equally so, the growing demand for lithium batteries.
The problem is, had we seen a large uptake in lithium demand (and stock prices) it would make sense to see graphite riding along with it. Lithium stocks have done nothing since 2009 and globally there is no shortage of graphite.
In fact, China who are the largest graphite producer by far, are struggling to improve the economics of the industry. Raw material producers are very fragmented and have been losing money for years. Unlike the rare earth (REE) industry, which came under the control of the Chinese government without issue, the graphite industry is proving difficult to manage and control. It is not because the supply is not there, it is because of the fragemented (and often small scale) nature of the miners and processors.
It is well known that within China the money is not made in the mining of graphite, but in the processing. In fact, Chinese producers had been exporting graphite at low prices before they realized that Japanese made graphite processed products could be imported and sold for 20 to 30 times the price.
In the past year graphite has seen some supply/demand imbalances – primarily because the supply in China was very mismanaged by farmers and factories. Now the government is demanding that large graphite processors and factories setup bases around the multiple large graphite deposits in the Provinces of Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, and Shangdong.
In doing so, China will improve productivity and competitiveness considerably. Unfortunately this is something that the new entrants to the junior graphite exploration world may not be aware of, or may not be discussing with investors. In the world map shown above you can see where China produces a massive amount of graphite in relation to everyone else. The next big players are India, Brazil, and North Korea.
It is not a case of the world running out of graphite, it is a scenario where the world’s largest producer was very fragmented and mismanaged. That could change dramatically over the next year or two and it could make it extremely difficult to finance new projects outside China – or compete with China on price.
Conclusion
Lithium had a short day in the sun years ago and has failed to recover. Graphite after REE’s died off appears to be the next attempt at a junior resource push by (very skilled) promoters and financiers. Economically it is an industry that faces some serious challenges.
I know these comments will not be well received by investors in graphite companies. In fact, I am expecting the “flaming” on this one. However, it is important that investors and speculators be made aware of the current risks. Lord knows enough money has been lost on everything else that is resource related this past year so we don’t need another lithium sector in the making – although I realize this report is likely several weeks “too late” for many investors.
This is a very unforgiving market environment and marginal is not good enough. Investors are not mindless monkeys and the bar has been raised very high for all companies no matter what mineral or metal they are looking for or producing
As lithium investors found out, you treat these stocks as your “girlfriend” and not your “soulmate.” The graphite stocks may still power higher this year and I really hope they defy the odds. We need more success stories on the TSX and the Venture - I am just not convinced those will come from graphite.
If you remain a fan of graphite then maybe companies like Focus Metals (TSX: V.FMS, Stock Forum; 88 cents) make sense. Its stock has not behaved irrationally and this past week they announced an important partnership with a division of Hydro Quebec. The importance they are placing on the “processing” side is critical to long term success (as the Chinese are now learning).
Share structure is also critically important. Companies like Standard Graphite (TSX: V.SGH, Stock Forum; 37 cents) are very grass roots but have done an excellent job avoiding excess dilution – this is critical to survival and protecting shareholder value.
For those interested in the sector, this website has listed all the players: http://www.graphitestocks.com/
I did email Sargent months ago about qdots, qtmm and th business with no response. Hmmm...
Just Wonderful
We are years away any slight chance of revenue.
Glta
I'm not selling and it's not your business to suggest that.
Trevor
I attended an agm two weeks shook the CEO's hand , had a conversation.
You know that means a lot for impression.
What do we know of our part time management?
Any presentations, any links on web of CEO?
If there is a pack leader, he should be visible 3 years+ down the road. One interview on you tube, that's what a future investor has.
Look up this company : HK CEO's name is Floyd . He's worth hundreds of millions. And he's visible and out there. I bought his stock because I saw an interview with him on a business program. that's how I learned about his company.
If you want to raise shareholders you need to file on time, which they are finally doing. But it doesn't end there. I know it's not a product for everyday folks. If the product qtmm has is so great, let our visionary speak up to the world.
The kind that only has 30 bucks.
I think an investor update is overdue from our CEO. A letter, something. Doesn't have to disclose anything.
Why is our CEO like a phantom? Nowhere to be heard or seen?
I just lost 9% with a volume of 300 shares.
Saudi Arabia has finally noticed it has twenty centuries of solar reserves and has made plans to tap them. For its own use.
The Kingdom has just announced a $109 billion plan to create a solar industry that generates a third of the nation’s electricity by 2032, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
Maher al- Odan, a consultant at the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) announced a plan to have 41 GW of solar capacity within two decades.
To put 41 GW in perspective, China is the world’s leader in wind power now, overtaking Germany and the U.S. with about 48 GW of wind. This is a very serious move by a country well able to afford this kind of investment, that till recently has lagged the rest of the MENA region in renewables trailing Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates.
Traditional photovoltaic (PV) solar is to supply 16 GW, but the bulk of the solar (25 GW) is to come from the very desert-friendly concentrated solar power (CSP) that focuses the sun with mirrors to create the intense heat that drives turbines in a thermal power plant.
Citing government officials, Deutsche Bank said the capacity would be added in competitive bidding starting with 1,100 megawatts of PV and 900 megawatts of solar thermal in the first quarter of 2013. A second round of bidding is due in the second half of 2014.
Solar Reserve, which is constructing the largest 24 hour solar CSP project worldwide in Nevada has already been in talks with the Saudis.
Kevin Smith the CEO of Solar Reserve told GreenProphet that the company is among those looking to bid. The CSP company uses similar technology to the Gemasolar project built in Spain by Abu Dhabi’s visionary state-funded clean energy company Masdar. Because both use molten salt as both the transfer liquid and the storage medium, they can supply electricity long after dark.
“They really only – in the last couple of years – have started to really increase their solar activity” he said of Saudi solar ambitions. “We expect there will be projects going into construction in Saudi next year. Hopefully with us, but certainly, with someone. We expect that their program will kick off next year. We hope we get can projects in construction in 2013.”
The Saudis could potentially save 523,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day over the next 20 years by such a boost to renewable energy, according to Saudi officials.
“The difficulties the Saudis have is their economy is all oil based” Smith concurred. “Really they want to maximise their exports of oil, but really what they’re using a lot of their oil for power generation in the country. It’s fine if oil is $20 a barrel, but now that they can sell it for $100 plus a barrel, it’s not a very cost-effective use of their oil.”
Nuclear, wind and geothermal would together contribute just half that amount at a still staggering 21,000 megawatts (21 GW) as we covered here: Solar-Rich Saudis Running after Nukes. But the new solar plans dwarf these. As they should.
“We are not only looking for building solar plants,” al- Odan said in an interview in Riyadh yesterday. “We want to run a sustainable solar energy sector that will become a driver for the domestic energy for years to come.”
The Saudis may require bid winners to supply from factories built in the nation, according to Vishal Shah, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in New York, as we have covered previously: Saudis to Make Desert Sands into Solar Polysilicon.
About $82 billion will go to capital costs, with the remainder of the $109 billion going to train the Saudis to run the solar plants as well as for maintenance and operation, al-Odan told Bloomberg.
Once the strategy, which includes new regulations and financial incentives for private investors, is approved “we will start implementation directly,” al-Odan said.
Saudi Arabia may burn 850 million barrels of oil a year, or 30 percent of its crude output, to generate electricity by 2030 if doesn’t become efficient in energy consumption, Electricity & Co-Generation Regulatory Authority Governor Abdullah Al-Shehri said in a presentation in Riyadh May 8.
Its plans are likely to be approved later this year, al-Suliman said, according to a copy of the presentation he gave on May 8.
“The Saudi Arabian government has a powerful incentive to diversify its energy mix to reduce dependence on oil,” said Logan Goldie-Scot, an analyst at New Energy Finance in London.
Assuming initial capital costs for the solar projects of about $2.17 per watt of capacity installed, he added “The state could generate an internal rate of return of approximately 12 percent if it built a PV plant and sold the displaced oil on the international markets.”
http://www.balderrie.com/index.php?page=22&nompage=Partners&num=90#KAUST
KAUST University
In partnership with SOFCpower and KAUST scientists, Balderrie has initiated a technology development program in new energy systems.
1- Dr. Ghassan Jabbour (Top)
The chief research scientist on this program is Dr. Ghassan Jabbour, one of the world's most prominent experts in solar energy development and research. Dr. Jabbour is an American-Lebanese scientist who has achieved international prominence and renown through his research to develop photo-voltaic cells that are printed on flexible media, much like newspapers are.
This process would enable the "printing" of PV panels at speeds approaching 100 Km per hour. This would lead to revolutionary reductions in the cost of photo-voltaic energy. Dr. Jabbour is establishing at KAUST what's slated to become the world's largest solar energy research and development laboratory.
Graphite: Pencil It In
By Richard (Rick) Mills
February 15, 2012 • Reprints
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As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information
Sometime between 1500 and 1565 a large graphite deposit was discovered in Cumbria, England. Because the graphite was extremely pure and solid it could easily be sawed into sticks. The graphite was actually thought to be a form of lead and called plumbago – Latin for lead ore.
The Borrowable Mine was soon ordered to be put under armed guard by Queen Elizabeth because the “lead” could be used to line the moulds for making her armies cannonballs. But black marketers managed to smuggle out the graphite for continued use in pencils. Artists from all over the known world quickly learned to appreciate the qualities of Cumbria’s graphite but it wasn’t until 1795 that Nicholas Conte learned to mix graphite powder with clay and fire it in a furnace to actually make something with the equivalent quality of Borrowables plumbago.
Today graphite (named for the Greek word meaning "to write") is attracting the attention of investors, and for just as good a reason as it once attracted artists 500 years ago.
Carbon
By mass carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe (after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen) and it’s the 15th most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Carbon is present in all known life forms and is the second (oxygen is first) most abundant element by mass - about 18.5% - in the human body.
Carbon is the stuff of life, it is the foundation, the chemical basis, of every living thing on Earth, yet because of its pervasive familiarity we all take it for granted. As investors we might want to rethink that.
Allotropes are structural modifications of an element - the allotropes of carbon include:
Diamond - The carbon atoms are bonded together in a tetrahedral lattice arrangement
Fullerenes - The carbon atoms are bonded together in spherical, tubular, or ellipsoidal formations
Graphite - The carbon atoms are bonded together in sheets of a hexagonal lattice
Graphene - A flat two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms
Graphite
Graphite has long been used in the aviation, automotive, sports, steel and plastic industries, as well as in the manufacture of bearings and lubricants. Graphite is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, is corrosion and heat resistant, and is also strong and light.
Currently, the automotive and steel industries are the largest consumers of graphite and demand across both industries is rising at five percent per annum.
The steel industry uses graphite as liners for ladles and crucibles, they use it in the bricks that line blast furnaces and to increase the carbon content of steel. Graphite has already replaced asbestos in automotive brake linings and pads and is used for gaskets and clutch materials. Sparks plugs are also made incorporating graphite.
But demand for graphite has been rising for other applications as well: in the form of flexible graphite sheets, and in such applications as lithium-ion and vanadium batteries, fuel cells, semi conductors, and components used in the nuclear, wind and solar power sectors.
Graphoil
Graphoil (flexible graphite sheets) is one of the fastest growing graphite markets. Flexible graphite is desirable for compression packing and gaskets, offering the ability to seal by means of filling gaps in order to retain fluid.
Flexible graphite products have valuable properties:
Free from creep under constant load
Stable in cryogenic temperatures far below zero to temperatures well above the melting point of most ferrous and non-ferrous metals
Resists a wide range of corrosive materials
Nuclear-radiation-resistant even when exposed to massive doses of radiation
Fire-safe in the presence of highly volatile fluids and extremely high temperatures
Nuclear Power
Graphite plays a key role in many current, and future, nuclear reactor designs. The next generation nuclear reactor (the INL-led Next Generation Nuclear Plant [NGNP] and other proposed high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors) will generate temperatures that are expected to reach as high as 1,000 °C in their cores. Graphite, having a higher melting point then steel, doesn't burn until temperatures reach 3,000 degrees Celsius. Because graphite has a huge heat-absorbing capacity, it’s also used to keep nuclear fuel at safe temperatures during unexpected events. As an aside, graphite is also used as a heat sink in computers.
China’s Pebble bed reactors (PBR) are a graphite moderated, gas cooled nuclear reactor. The base of the PBR's design is the spherical (billiard ball-sized) fuel elements called pebbles. In the PBR, thousands of pebbles are amassed to create a reactor core. The pebbles are made of pyrolytic graphite (a protective graphite coating that moderates the pace of nuclear reactions) and they contain thousands of micro fuel particles called TRISO particles, which consist of a fissile material such as 235U. These reactors are cooled by non-explosive helium gas instead of depending on a steady source of water.
Substantial amounts of graphite are required to charge the reactor at startup – about 3,000 tons – and a percentage of the balls must be replaced each year as the fuel is spent, necessitating a further 600 to 1,000 tons of graphite each year of operation. China has one operating prototype, is now building two commercial units, and plans to have 30 Pebble Bed nuclear reactors in operation by 2020.
Fuel Cells
The two major types of fuel cells – the phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) and the proton electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) – currently under development rely heavily on graphitized carbon. PAFCs are for stationary power generation (primary or backup power for remote locations such as cell phone towers), whereas PEMFC's have attracted widespread interest for use in transportation applications.
A fuel cell is not a battery. A battery is an energy storage device. It will stop producing electrical energy when the chemical reactants are consumed or it 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.
More and more fuel-cell applications are in development every year and fuel cell technologies rely heavily on graphite. The proton exchange fuel cell (PEMFC) requires 80-100 lbs of graphite per vehicle.
"Large-scale fuel cell applications are being developed that could consume as much graphite as all other uses combined." U.S. Geological Survey
Solar Thermal Collectors
The biggest limitation of Solar or Photovoltaic (PV) panels is that they can use only a fraction of the sunlight that hits them, the rest of the sunlight turns into heat which actually hurts the performance of the panels. An alternative that can make use of all of the sunlight, including light frequencies PVs can't use, is the solar thermal collector – they collect heat that’s used to boil the water to make the steam which drives the turbine which creates the electricity.
To further increase the efficiency of solar collectors, nanoparticles - particles a billionth of a meter in size - are added into the heat transfer oils normally used in solar thermal power plants. In laboratory tests nanoparticles increased heat collection efficiency by up to 10 percent. 100 grams of nanoparticles provides the same heat-collecting surface area as an entire football field.
Graphite nanoparticles are very efficient heat collectors.
Vanadium Redox Batteries
When the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, neither solar nor wind plants are generating electricity. These two green energies need batteries to store the excess energy they can produce under optimal conditions. The vanadium redox battery (VRB) could be the perfect answer as they:
Have unlimited capacity simply by increasing the size of their storage tanks
Can be left completely discharged for long periods of time with no ill effects
Have low maintenance requirements
Can be recharged by simply replacing the electrolyte
Have a nominal environmental footprint
VRB’s also require almost 300 tonnes of flake graphite per 1,000 megawatts of storage capacity.
Lithium-ion Batteries
The most important application for increased graphite demand might come from the lithium-ion batteries found in electric vehicle batteries and used to power our modern consumer electronics.
While lithium is the cathode the anode is graphite and these batteries need 10 to 30 times more graphite than lithium (depending on which expert you listen to). The lithium-ion battery industry is growing at a 30-40% annual rate.
As many as six million electric vehicles might be manufactured in 2020, each of them requiring 40 lbs of graphite for its battery system – the electric motorcycle and scooter markets are growing even faster.
Lithium-ion batteries are also crucial to the consumer electronics industry for applications as varied as power tools, cell telephones, laptops, tablets and media players.
Graphene
If you took a close look, a very close look, at a graphite pencil lead you will see layer upon layer of carbon atoms, multiple two dimensional planes that are loosely bonded to their neighbors.
The reason graphite works so well as a writing material, and industrial lubricant, is because the layers of atoms slip easily over one another. The layered structure facilitates easy cleavage along the planes.
Each of those single layer of atoms is grapheme. Separating the individual layers of graphite sets the electrons free and allows carbon to behave differently.
Properties
Graphene has unique combinations of optical, electrical and mechanical properties:
Astonishing electrical conductivity - Graphene has the highest current density (a million times that of copper) at room temperature; the highest intrinsic mobility (100 times more than in silicon); and can carry more electricity more efficiently, quickly, and with more precision than any other material.
Graphene also beats diamond in thermal conductivity; it's better than any other known material.
It is the thinnest and strongest material known to man; 200 times stronger than steel, is almost invisible and weightless, and stretches like rubber; graphene can stretch up to 20% of its length, and yet is the stiffest known material, even stiffer than diamond.
Graphene is the most impermeable material ever discovered.
Uses
Touch Screens
Graphene is transparent in infra-red and visible light, absorbing just 2.3% of light that lands on it. But with your naked eye, you can see a single layer of graphene laid on a blank piece of white paper.
Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), the current touch screen material of choice, absorbs 10% of incident light, but it’s quite brittle, the exact opposite of graphene. Graphene is ideal for use in touch screens.
According to some reports the world has only 5-10 years of ITO reserves remaining and prices already exceed US$700,000 per tonne.
Photovoltaic (PV) Cells
Graphene has no band gap; everything is accepted. What this means is that graphene solar panels have a huge advantage over silicon solar panels. Graphene can absorb light from all over the solar spectrum, whereas silicon is confined to certain frequencies. That makes graphene solar panels much more efficient than any other material. Instead of waiting 10-12 years for payback, it might come as quickly as five years.
Transistors
It is possible to induce a small band gap in graphene by doping it, which means grapheme can be used a transistor. You need the band gap if you want to be able to turn the transistor off.
Spintronics
Spintronics is a technology for controlling not only individual electronics, but also their spin, this increases the amount of information that can be stored per electron - data is stored in the spin of an electron, not its presence. Since graphene has a long spin diffusion length, the technology promises to increase the efficiency with which devices consume power and increase data storage capability.
Superconductivity At Room Temperature
The mean free path is the distance an electron can travel freely without bumping into something, or having its path disrupted by scattering – both cause resistance which means heat is generated. In graphene, the mean free path is 65 microns, long enough that electronic components could be made that would operate at ambient temperatures with virtually no resistance. We’re talking ambient temperature unimpeded conduction of electrons – superconductivity at room temperature.
Sensors
Graphene is the most impermeable material ever discovered, not even helium atoms can squeeze through. Highly sensitive gas detectors can be manufactured because the smallest quantity of a gas will get caught in its lattice producing an electrical signal that flags the presence of the chemical.
Medical imaging devices that won’t do the harm X-rays cause are possible using graphene, as are strain sensors. When you pull or push the strain can be monitored. This could be useful for buildings in earthquake prone areas or in airplane wings.
DNA sequencing
If you pass a strand of DNA through a sheet of grapheme with a small gap in it, the electrical properties of graphene change on exposure to each base pair. Because graphene is 2D, it can "read" one base at a time, making it much more accurate than anything used today.
Derivatives
All the chemical derivatives of graphene are useful. You can dissolve graphene, and the solutions (fluorographene, graphene oxide, hydrogenated grapheme) have applications in printable electronics that are already 10 times better than current state of the art technology.
Criticality
In 2010 a European Commission included graphite among the 14 materials it considered high in both economic importance and supply risk. The British Geological Survey listed graphite as one of the materials to most likely be in short supply globally.
The US government has also declared graphite a critical material. The US Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department, said the country could be hurt if terrorists were to disable graphite mines in China.
Market
The natural graphite market is 1-1.2 million tonnes per year and utilizes several foms of graphite: flake, amorphous and lump. Historical applications primarily use amorphous and lump graphite, while most newly emerging technologies and applications use flake graphite. About 40% of the estimated 1.2 million tonnes of graphite that are processed each year is flake.
China, India and Canada are responsible for most graphite mining and processing, with China producing the lion’s share at 70–80%. China’s production is 70% amorphous and lower-value small flake graphite.
Currently China imports a significant amount of North Korea’s large flake graphite production, raising considerable doubts in regards to China’s abilities to ramp up its graphite supply. Indeed China has already taken steps to retain its graphite resources by restricting its export quota. China imposed a 20% export duty, a 17% VAT and also closed state owned enterprises.
“The days of cheap, abundant graphite from China are over.” Industrial Minerals Magazine May, 2011
It’s thought that the increased use of lithium-ion batteries could gobble up well over 1.6 million tonnes of flake graphite per year by 2020. Only flake, upgraded to 99.9% purity, and synthetic graphite (made from petroleum coke using a relatively expensive process) can be used in lithium-ion batteries.
“Annual flake graphite production will have to increase by a factor of six by 2020 to meet incremental lithium carbonate requirements for batteries.” Canaccord research report
The US Geological Survey says large-scale fuel cell applications are being developed that could consume as much graphite as all other uses combined. This is a bold statement, but even if only half of the USGS demand is realized, graphite use is going to explode just because of fuel cells, let alone other known demand drivers and new applications.
What if the current market almost doubles? New demand between now and 2020 could total as much as 1 million tonnes on top of the existing 1.2 million tonnes of demand.
Today’s graphite producers, other than the ones in China, are going to have to produce more, and junior companies are going to have to get busy and start to develop deposits. There will be a premium placed on mines in stable, safe areas for investment.
A large scale producer puts out 20,000 to 40,000 tonnes per year. That implies a need for a lot of new mines... and a lot of opportunity for investors. A million tonnes divided by 40,000 could be the equivalent of up to 25 new mines needed to meet growing demand.
Consider also that most of the mines expected to come online, and the ones already in production, will not produce the highest grades of graphite. The highest grade is crystalline large flake, which runs between 94% and 97% carbon and starts at 80 or higher mesh size. Most new mines will probably produce medium, small-flake, lump, or amorphous graphite.
Conclusion
The extraction of graphite and its processing is very well known in western countries, which are the leaders in graphite and graphene application research.
China is not going to be much of a factor in the large flake graphite market, except perhaps as a future importer. The West has large flake graphite deposits, knows how to extract and refine the graphite, and leads in technological advancements.
New high-tech applications require more and more graphite production while graphene seems to be a wonder material. A lot of time, effort and money is being spent researching it, with 3,000 research reports written on the subject in 2010 alone.
An investor needs to be doing due diligence on junior resource companies with near surface, high grade large flake deposits close to all necessary infrastructure in politically safe jurisdictions.
Graphite should be on every investors radar screen. Is it on yours?
If not, maybe it should be.
Richard (Rick) Mills is president of Northern Venture Gorup and host of aheadoftheherd.com. He can be e-mailed at rick@aheadoftheherd.com.
If you're interested in learning more about a specific graphite junior, the junior resource sector, bio-tech and technology sectors please come and visit us at www.aheadoftheherd.com
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About the Author
Richard (Rick) Mills
Richard (Rick) Mills is president of Northern Venture Gorup and host of aheadoftheherd.com. He can be e-mailed at rick@aheadoftheherd.com.
Focus Metals 2nd Annual General Meeting | Speech
(Download the PDF).
By: Gary Economo
President and CEO, Focus Metals Inc.
May 3, 2012
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to our second Annual General Meeting.
My name is Gary Economo and I’m President and CEO of Focus Metals. I’m pleased to announce that our shareholders have voted and have consented to our request to change our corporate identity to Focus Graphite Inc.
A year ago, at our first AGM, I described Focus Metals as an exciting young company with an ambition to create a bonanza for our shareholders.
Focus Graphite remains an exciting young company and we’re about to realize those ambitions we still hold for creating that shareholder bonanza. Here’s why:
Our management approach to success is based upon our “business unusual” philosophy, that is, breaking with the conventions of traditional mining management.
Digging up graphite and selling your product into the market is good if that’s all you aspire to.
We saw opportunities to add immense value to our future production by implementing a strategy to beat the market and our competitors.
That strategy is built upon Lac Knife’s 16%, industry-leading grade.
We knew, and we had the confidence to pioneer a new wave of thinking in our industry by incorporating technology innovation into our business vision.
I can state today, without any reservation that our technology-driven focus has been met with success on a number of fronts.
The Year in Review
During the last year, we saw our share price ebb and flow as the market apprised itself of, and began considering both the short and long-term potential of buying into a largely ignored, but ancient commodity.
Again, I can say without reservation or sense of false modesty that Focus paved the way for the interest shown today by commodity investors. Shock and Awe provided the world with the buzzwords that created a focus on Focus.
The graphite mining sector has changed dramatically during the last 12 months.
Today, there are a number of new entrants looking to carve out a niche for themselves in the graphite space.
While projected future demand for graphite bodes well for our industry over the longer term, we anticipate some rationalization over the next two-to-five years as new supply sources come onto the market.
China remains the X-Factor, and the pace of demand over the short term will be led by technology end users as new applications for graphite are developed.
Focus Graphite intends to lead the mining sector by assuming a dominant position in the supply of technology graphite to meet sectoral needs based on price, quality and availability.
Lac Knife’s 16% grade and the quality of our “super concentrate” graphite deposit support our ambitions to become the lowest-cost producer of technology graphite in the world.
At the end of the day, only two things matter: the highest graphite grade in the world, and; a management with a vision to build shareholder value from a technology-based enterprise.
Creating a bonanza for our shareholders requires diligence, effort, creativity, and time.
Business innovation, an ability to maximize business opportunities and adding value from a technology source remain the pillars of our management objectives.
Moving into pre-production during the last 12 also brought administrative changes. Chief among them was the appointment of Mr. Tony Brisson as Vice President, Exploration.
Tony’s 2012 Lac Knife plans for Lac Knife drilling program are finalized and drilling should commence in a matter of days or weeks depending on the weather.
We also passed a number of financial and operational milestones as we moved into pre-production development – one of which was significant – the closing of a $20 million bought deal private placement led by Cormark Securities and included Byron Capital and Desjardins Securities.
Among other notable achievements since our last AGM was the hiring of Roscoe Postle Associates – one of the world’s premier mine designers – to begin planning for Lac Knife’s mine construction and supporting requirements.
Last summer, the U.S. financial regulator FINRA approved our request for listing on the premium OTCQX exchange and Standard and Poors launched their coverage of Focus Metals.
Last autumn, we announced our purchase of some 200 Quebec mining claims and we added an additional 65 Quebec claims and properties in January this year.
A Turning Point
Last December, we published our 43-101 compliant resource estimate for our Lac Knife, Quebec deposit. It elevated our status and validated our claim as the holders of the best graphite property in the world.
It opened the door for us to cement our relationships with potential customers and it strengthened our position in discussions leading towards offtakes, or long-term sales/purchase agreements.
It also prompted our financial backers to re-invest in Focus.
On March 14, about five weeks ago, a syndicate led by Cormark that included Byron Capital closed a $10 million bought deal flow-through private placement. Those funds, by regulation, are earmarked for drilling at Lac Knife, at Kwyjibo and for any exploration purposes related to our claims.
That new funding has left us in the enviable position of being very well funded and enabled us to engage in a broader campaign than we had planned for last year.
The preparation of our Preliminary Economic Assessment is underway and that report should be ready for publication in the very near future.
Our recent, preliminary metallurgical report prepared for us by SGS indicated good results and we expect a final recovery report to be published once testing is completed and the results analyzed.
What that initial report confirmed was Lac Knife’s graphite is perfectly suited for green technology and lithium battery applications. And that’s precisely where we’re headed.
As a longer-term investment, we believe Focus stakeholders have come to accept our milestone-by-milestone development. As an emerging company, our “business unusual” continues to break the mold of a traditional mining development company.
Looking Ahead – The Market and Focus Graphite
The year ahead will be interesting to shareholders both domestically and internationally.
As I mentioned earlier, China remains the X-Factor in global markets. Pressure is mounting on the central government from major graphite producers there to grant the same protectionist status given to rare earth producers.
Consolidation of the graphite industry in China has begun, starting with amorphous graphite – a market we don’t compete in – but any moves to restrict flake graphite exports, which account for about half of China’s production will place upward pressure on international prices.
China itself is a world-leading consumer of flake graphite and currently leads the world in electric vehicle development and production including cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles.
Lithium battery and fuel cell development and production go hand-in-hand with China’s green programs. The potential for a rise in prices bodes well for emerging producers - Focus Graphite included - over the short term.
Over the next two to five years however, even with increased margins, the market remains sensitive to China’s ability to undercut markets by introducing more product into markets.
With the ability to produce at the lowest cost, highest quality graphite in the world, Focus Graphite is virtually immune from potential market oversupplies. Conversely, shareholders could anticipate a benefit from the highest possible profit margins.
In the meantime, the greatest value will accrue to our shareholders by continuing to execute our Lac Knife development strategy. We remain uniquely positioned to lead the graphite sector because of our world-class deposit and because we’re positioned to take advantage of market changes which will inevitably occur.
Kwyjibo: 2012 Summer Exploration and Drilling
Our focus remains on a two-phase exploration and summer drilling program with our partner SOQUEM beginning in mid-June and ending mid-September.
A 4,000 meter core drilling program at the Josette site is planned to further define the shape and size of our rare earth resource that will be followed by the release of a 43-101 compliant resource calculation once the drilling results are compiled.
Given the signs of a return to relative stability in rare earth markets, a positive showing from a second technology resource would complement our graphite developments.
Graphene Developments
Earlier this year, Dr. Gordon Chiu, Focus Metals Chief Scientist pronounced our Lac Knife graphite deposit as a “super concentrate” supply source for graphene development. That is, any graphite source with a grading higher than 15%.
Dr. Chiu told a gathering of researchers and scientists in early April he had mated Lac Knife’s graphite with a proprietary process for transforming our graphite ore to an affordable, high quality, high energy graphene.
We expect further news from Dr. Chiu during the course of the next year.
Conclusion
Let me conclude by saying we have every confidence in our abilities to execute a technology-biased business strategy we introduced two years ago.
We shall deliver the two most important elements of that strategy, and they are:
1. to develop Lac Knife to production and to employ those technologies that add value to Lac Knife’s graphite, and;
2. to build shareholder value into each phase of Lac Knife’s development through innovation and through the introduction of those technologies which maximize profits and growth.
Thank you for your attendance here today.
Focus Metals 2nd Annual General Meeting | Speech
(Download the PDF).
By: Gary Economo
President and CEO, Focus Metals Inc.
May 3, 2012
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to our second Annual General Meeting.
My name is Gary Economo and I’m President and CEO of Focus Metals. I’m pleased to announce that our shareholders have voted and have consented to our request to change our corporate identity to Focus Graphite Inc.
A year ago, at our first AGM, I described Focus Metals as an exciting young company with an ambition to create a bonanza for our shareholders.
Focus Graphite remains an exciting young company and we’re about to realize those ambitions we still hold for creating that shareholder bonanza. Here’s why:
Our management approach to success is based upon our “business unusual” philosophy, that is, breaking with the conventions of traditional mining management.
Digging up graphite and selling your product into the market is good if that’s all you aspire to.
We saw opportunities to add immense value to our future production by implementing a strategy to beat the market and our competitors.
That strategy is built upon Lac Knife’s 16%, industry-leading grade.
We knew, and we had the confidence to pioneer a new wave of thinking in our industry by incorporating technology innovation into our business vision.
I can state today, without any reservation that our technology-driven focus has been met with success on a number of fronts.
The Year in Review
During the last year, we saw our share price ebb and flow as the market apprised itself of, and began considering both the short and long-term potential of buying into a largely ignored, but ancient commodity.
Again, I can say without reservation or sense of false modesty that Focus paved the way for the interest shown today by commodity investors. Shock and Awe provided the world with the buzzwords that created a focus on Focus.
The graphite mining sector has changed dramatically during the last 12 months.
Today, there are a number of new entrants looking to carve out a niche for themselves in the graphite space.
While projected future demand for graphite bodes well for our industry over the longer term, we anticipate some rationalization over the next two-to-five years as new supply sources come onto the market.
China remains the X-Factor, and the pace of demand over the short term will be led by technology end users as new applications for graphite are developed.
Focus Graphite intends to lead the mining sector by assuming a dominant position in the supply of technology graphite to meet sectoral needs based on price, quality and availability.
Lac Knife’s 16% grade and the quality of our “super concentrate” graphite deposit support our ambitions to become the lowest-cost producer of technology graphite in the world.
At the end of the day, only two things matter: the highest graphite grade in the world, and; a management with a vision to build shareholder value from a technology-based enterprise.
Creating a bonanza for our shareholders requires diligence, effort, creativity, and time.
Business innovation, an ability to maximize business opportunities and adding value from a technology source remain the pillars of our management objectives.
Moving into pre-production during the last 12 also brought administrative changes. Chief among them was the appointment of Mr. Tony Brisson as Vice President, Exploration.
Tony’s 2012 Lac Knife plans for Lac Knife drilling program are finalized and drilling should commence in a matter of days or weeks depending on the weather.
We also passed a number of financial and operational milestones as we moved into pre-production development – one of which was significant – the closing of a $20 million bought deal private placement led by Cormark Securities and included Byron Capital and Desjardins Securities.
Among other notable achievements since our last AGM was the hiring of Roscoe Postle Associates – one of the world’s premier mine designers – to begin planning for Lac Knife’s mine construction and supporting requirements.
Last summer, the U.S. financial regulator FINRA approved our request for listing on the premium OTCQX exchange and Standard and Poors launched their coverage of Focus Metals.
Last autumn, we announced our purchase of some 200 Quebec mining claims and we added an additional 65 Quebec claims and properties in January this year.
A Turning Point
Last December, we published our 43-101 compliant resource estimate for our Lac Knife, Quebec deposit. It elevated our status and validated our claim as the holders of the best graphite property in the world.
It opened the door for us to cement our relationships with potential customers and it strengthened our position in discussions leading towards offtakes, or long-term sales/purchase agreements.
It also prompted our financial backers to re-invest in Focus.
On March 14, about five weeks ago, a syndicate led by Cormark that included Byron Capital closed a $10 million bought deal flow-through private placement. Those funds, by regulation, are earmarked for drilling at Lac Knife, at Kwyjibo and for any exploration purposes related to our claims.
That new funding has left us in the enviable position of being very well funded and enabled us to engage in a broader campaign than we had planned for last year.
The preparation of our Preliminary Economic Assessment is underway and that report should be ready for publication in the very near future.
Our recent, preliminary metallurgical report prepared for us by SGS indicated good results and we expect a final recovery report to be published once testing is completed and the results analyzed.
What that initial report confirmed was Lac Knife’s graphite is perfectly suited for green technology and lithium battery applications. And that’s precisely where we’re headed.
As a longer-term investment, we believe Focus stakeholders have come to accept our milestone-by-milestone development. As an emerging company, our “business unusual” continues to break the mold of a traditional mining development company.
Looking Ahead – The Market and Focus Graphite
The year ahead will be interesting to shareholders both domestically and internationally.
As I mentioned earlier, China remains the X-Factor in global markets. Pressure is mounting on the central government from major graphite producers there to grant the same protectionist status given to rare earth producers.
Consolidation of the graphite industry in China has begun, starting with amorphous graphite – a market we don’t compete in – but any moves to restrict flake graphite exports, which account for about half of China’s production will place upward pressure on international prices.
China itself is a world-leading consumer of flake graphite and currently leads the world in electric vehicle development and production including cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles.
Lithium battery and fuel cell development and production go hand-in-hand with China’s green programs. The potential for a rise in prices bodes well for emerging producers - Focus Graphite included - over the short term.
Over the next two to five years however, even with increased margins, the market remains sensitive to China’s ability to undercut markets by introducing more product into markets.
With the ability to produce at the lowest cost, highest quality graphite in the world, Focus Graphite is virtually immune from potential market oversupplies. Conversely, shareholders could anticipate a benefit from the highest possible profit margins.
In the meantime, the greatest value will accrue to our shareholders by continuing to execute our Lac Knife development strategy. We remain uniquely positioned to lead the graphite sector because of our world-class deposit and because we’re positioned to take advantage of market changes which will inevitably occur.
Kwyjibo: 2012 Summer Exploration and Drilling
Our focus remains on a two-phase exploration and summer drilling program with our partner SOQUEM beginning in mid-June and ending mid-September.
A 4,000 meter core drilling program at the Josette site is planned to further define the shape and size of our rare earth resource that will be followed by the release of a 43-101 compliant resource calculation once the drilling results are compiled.
Given the signs of a return to relative stability in rare earth markets, a positive showing from a second technology resource would complement our graphite developments.
Graphene Developments
Earlier this year, Dr. Gordon Chiu, Focus Metals Chief Scientist pronounced our Lac Knife graphite deposit as a “super concentrate” supply source for graphene development. That is, any graphite source with a grading higher than 15%.
Dr. Chiu told a gathering of researchers and scientists in early April he had mated Lac Knife’s graphite with a proprietary process for transforming our graphite ore to an affordable, high quality, high energy graphene.
We expect further news from Dr. Chiu during the course of the next year.
Conclusion
Let me conclude by saying we have every confidence in our abilities to execute a technology-biased business strategy we introduced two years ago.
We shall deliver the two most important elements of that strategy, and they are:
1. to develop Lac Knife to production and to employ those technologies that add value to Lac Knife’s graphite, and;
2. to build shareholder value into each phase of Lac Knife’s development through innovation and through the introduction of those technologies which maximize profits and growth.
Thank you for your attendance here today.
I attended comic con last year.
Hawk can you send me link to art's twitter account. Why isnt the website link the one they use that's not very efficient.
Q&A with Dr. Gordon Chiu, Grafoid Inc.'s Vice President and Chief Scientist
http://www.stockhouse.com/Community-News/2011/Sept/22/Junior-unique-in-its-mine-to-market-to-graphene-bu
Q&A with Dr. Gordon Chiu, Grafoid Inc.'s Vice President and Chief Scientist
http://www.stockhouse.com/Community-News/2011/Sept/22/Junior-unique-in-its-mine-to-market-to-graphene-bu
Graphite Brochure
http://www.resourceworld.com/online/graphite-supplement/
This is history in the making!
Thanks
And earnings are tomorrow ....
This is going to rock....
If it reached 20$ last year, now with all the great news and potential.... This could hit 25$+ by fall easily.
This is still considered a long term investment, so for impatient traders they probably are selling off.
Hi rocket
You think it's going dip down again?
It's been going up and down from 14 to 12 ...
I think they are more like a box of chocolate, you don't know what's inside.
Why quantum dots can join every aspect of everyday life
Nanotechnology is often confined to niche products, but quantum dots are so versatile they could be used in everything from light bulbs to laptops
http://www.guardian.co.uk/nanotechnology-world/quantum-dots-can-join-everyday-life?newsfeed=true
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 May 2012 11.45 BST
Sheet of semiconductor crystals
Tiny bits of semiconductor crystals – so-called quantum dots – have such remarkable properties that scientists think they will soon be used in everything from light bulbs to the design of ultra-efficient solar cells. Photograph: Science Photo Library
The properties of a material were once thought to be defined only by its chemical composition. But size matters too, especially for semiconductors. Make crystals of silicon small enough – less than 10 nanometres – and their tiny dimensions can start to dictate how the atoms behave and react in the presence of other things.
These tiny bits of semiconductor crystals – so-called quantum dots – have such remarkable, novel properties that scientists think they will soon be used in everything from light bulbs to imaging of cancer cells or in the design of ultra-efficient solar cells.
Semiconductors such as silicon or indium arsenide are chosen to build electronic circuits because of the discrete energy levels at which they can give off electrons or photons. This makes them useful in building switches, transistors and other devices. It was once thought these energy levels – known as band gaps – were fixed. But shrinking the physical size of the semiconductor material to quantum-dot level seems able to change the band gaps, altering the wavelengths of light the material can emit or changing the energy it takes to change a material from an insulator to a conductor.
Instead of looking for brand new materials to build different devices, then, quantum dots make it possible to use a single type of semiconductor to produce a range of different characteristics. Researchers could tune dots made from silicon to emit a range of different colours in different situations, for example, instead of having to use a range of materials with different chemical
compositions.
"The main application for quantum dots at the moment is biological tagging of cells," says Paul O'Brien, a professor of inorganic materials at the University of Manchester and co-founder of Nanoco Technologies a quantum dot manufacturer also based in Manchester. They are used in the same way as fluorescent dyes, to label agents, he says, but with the advantage that a single laser source can be used to illuminate many different tags each with a specific wavelength.
By attaching different types of quantum dots to proteins that target and attach to specific cell types in the body, these bits of semiconductor can be used by doctors to monitor different kinds of cells. When a laser is then directed on to tagged cells, doctors can see what colour they glow.
The ability to shine also makes quantum dots well suited to produce white light. Existing white bulbs based on low energy light emitting diode (LED) technology tend to produce a garish and bluish form of light that notoriously feels cold, says O'Brien. This is because these LEDs use a phosphor that produces an artificial white light that contains less red wavelengths than natural white light. By embedding quantum dots into a film that is placed over a bulb containing blue LEDs, it is possible to get a much warmer colour of white light. The blue light from the LED stimulates the quantum dots which, in turn, emit light in a range of colours. Provided you have chosen your dots carefully, these will combine to form white light.
The first of these quantum dot lights hit the market in 2010, a partnership between QD Vision, an MIT spinout in Lexington, Massachusetts, and Nexxus Lighting of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Backlights for laptops, tablets and mobile devices are next in line, and they should appear in products before the end of 2012 says VJ Sahi, head of corporate development at materials design company Nanosys of Palo Alto, California. Besides the colour advantages, quantum-dot-based backlights can be three times more efficient than traditional backlights.
Eventually, says Sahi, quantum dots will do more than just light up displays. The long-term aim is use them to create each red, green and blue sub-pixel that makes up a coloured display. This should produce much brighter colours and consume less power than LCD or even the latest state-of-the-art organic LED (OLED) displays. They should also have no problems with viewing angles, he adds.
The interesting properties of quantum dots come from the fact that they behave like tuning forks for photons, a result of a phenomenon called confinement. At less than 10 nanometres in size – about 50 atoms – they fall within the dimensions of a critical quantum characteristic of the material known as the exciton Bohr radius. The energy levels of electrons within the material's atoms are constrained and, when a photon or electron hits an atom and excites it, the atom re-emits the energy as a photon of a very specific energy level.
Quantum dots also have another trick up their sleeve. Besides converting photons of one energy into photons of another, they can also be used to release electrons and create electrical currents: in other words they can be used to make solar cells. Arthur Nozik at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, says that quantum-dot solar cells would be much more efficient at converting the energy from photons and therefore boost the amount of power they can produce.
Such applications are many years from becoming commercial reality. But they serve to demonstrate that no material technology stands still; sometimes all you have to do is cut it down to size.
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I think if we do see a Q with revenue one day I think we can all laugh on the bickering and cheering.