SL Vein Graphite I think is way under what it should be. As a true safe haven I think the indicators are there for a massive surge.
Sri Lanka is one of the fastest growing economies with a GDP of 8% between 2010 and 2012
The Sri Lankan government is promoting foreign private sector investment
There is excellent infrastructure and experienced mining labour available
The country is English speaking with a high literacy rate of >92%
Sri Lanka is run by a democratic government, and is a member of the Commonwealth
There is excellent exploration and mining tenure available
Subject to Board of Investment approval to mine high grade vein graphite for export, MRL may receive:
A tax free holiday period
Duty free imports of capital equipment
Streamlined repatriation of profits
Why Sri Lanka?
1/ Sri Lanka is the only region in the world that produces vein (lump) graphite with a carbon content of more than 90%C in commercial quantities.
2/ The 25-year civil war ended in May 2009.
3/ The Sri Lankan government is keen on promoting foreign private sector investment, with graphite being the country's one of most important mineral products.
4/ Sri Lanka is underlain by Proterozoic high grade metamorphic rocks with Phanerozoic sediments being restricted to the coastal region.
5/ Sri Lanka currently produces a very small amount of graphite about 4,000 metric tons (MT) yearly, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
6/ But Sri Lanka's graphite is a unique product. The country produces lump and chippy dust graphite and is the worlds only source of these particular materials.
7/ Lump and chippy dust graphite are the highest-value graphite products found globally, the USGS notes. In 2012, prices for Sri Lankan lump and chip graphite averaged $1,990 per MT, significantly higher than prices reported for other products, such as flake or amorphous graphite.
8/ The significant potential application of modern geophysical techniques. Electrical surveys are a simple and effective way to check large amounts of ground for graphitic targets. By looking at the under-explored ground around Sri Lanka's major mines, incoming explorers have a high probability of making significant finds.
There are so many little things to come together right now that I think there could even be another TH...
I predict a massive boom in SL Vein in part because everyone wants out of collapsing and disrupted commodities. China is the world commodity buyer and with Graphene why buy so much?
SL Vein is even more precious then Gold in my opinion. The world cannot be pegged to Gold but it can be pegged to a basket of Currencies; commodities of critical value with a New Global Bretton Woods Agreement!
A landmark system for monetary and exchange rate management established in 1944. The Bretton Woods Agreement was developed at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, from July 1 to July 22, 1944.
Major outcomes of the Bretton Woods conference included the formation of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and, most importantly, the proposed introduction of an adjustable pegged foreign exchange rate system. Currencies were pegged to gold and the IMF was given the authority to intervene when an imbalance of payments arose.
INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'Bretton Woods Agreement'
One of the proposals of the Bretton Woods conference was that currencies should be convertible for trade and other current account transactions.
Following the end of World War II in 1945, Europe and the rest of the world embarked on a lengthy period of reconstruction and economic development to recover from the devastation inflicted by the war. Although gold initially served as the base reserve currency, the U.S dollar gained momentum as an international reserve currency that was linked to the price of gold.
I predict Veiners are going to surge past many Flaker companies and I think time is on my side. Now that MRL Corporation has announced some results for its ORE into GRAPHENE I predict Partners from the major world powers will be open to give them favorable partnership deals.
1) Widely advertised graphene enhanced tennis and squash rackets.
2) Graphene based flexible touch panels for mobile devices - reportedly millions a month in China are being supplied to smartphone makers.
3) Graphene enhanced skis, lightweight and more durable.
4) From Thermene - a graphene thermal paste used to help cool CPU's
5) Bicycle race wheels made by Vittoria using graphene enhanced composite materials, claimed by the maker to be the best available.
6) From Spanish sports manufacturer Catlike, available are cycle helmets and footwear - to give greater strength and flexibility.
7) A graphene based MRI agent is being released this month that will greatly extend the application of MRI scanning.
The new contrast enhancer greatly improves MRI safety and efficacy, and opens up the MRI market to renal and cardiovascular patients.
8) The European Space Agency announced two months ago that it will be powering a spacecraft, targeted for orbit in 2018, with ultracapacitors from Skeleton Technologies.
Then there are the graphene paints and graphene inks, and 3D printing paste....all in use NOW.
( Thanks @alpaka )
I was surprised to see no interview or webcast yet after such amazing news. It is good for long-termers accumulating but it also means the average Aussie has no idea about Graphene; SL Vein or what are safe harbors in what is about to unfold in my opinion.
"To most mining mavens, Sri Lanka was a land of mystery, onerous state intervention and certainly not one of mining. Sri Lankan graphite deposits are some of the richest on the planet. Under British colonial rule in the early 1900s, the nation was a significant graphite producer and exporter. Independence came in the 1950s and then there was a distinct socialistic trend in governments in the following decades culminating in the nationalization of the graphite sector in 1971.
The private sector was allowed back into Sri Lanka’s graphite industry in the early 1990s, but by that time, problems with the civil war were preventing development on a large scale. Additionally many of the State owned mines had been over-exploited, allowed to deteriorate and had not been subject to meaningful exploration to find new reserves.
The opening of the mining sector in recent years presents an opportunity for foreign companies to pursue Sri Lankan graphite on a significant scale.
Sri Lanka is known to be underlain up to 90% by Proterozoic high grade metamorphic rocks with Proterozoic sediments, particularly along the coastal regions.
According to the US Geological Survey Sri Lanka currently produces a very small amount of graphite, about 4,000 metric tons per annum. Sri Lanka’s graphite is a unique product. The country produces lump and chippy dust graphite and is the world’s only source of these particular materials.
Lump and chippy dust graphite are the highest-value graphite products found globally. These unique and comparatively higher margin vein (lump) deposits currently make-up less than 1% of the world graphite production. In 2012, prices for Sri Lankan lump and chip graphite averaged $1,990 per metric tonne, significantly higher than prices reported for other products, such as flake or amorphous graphite."
End users are very important when considering the differences between Flakers and Veiners...
Vein can be used by Lithium Batteries/Graphene Chips and so on demanding a premium price.
Vein has not had its great strike yet by most estimates using modern methodology.
Vein separates itself because of costs and expenses.
1/ Vein is Cheaper and Faster to Market.
2/ Vein End-users can take it as it is without processing.
3/ Vein competes with China.
4/ Vein is involved with the matters of future global dominance of space, military, information technology, energy and transport.
5/ Vein is a niche market.
6/ Sri Lanka's Risk to Leverage ratio is in the positive.
7/ Leverage and risk minimizing aspects driving ever greater investment capital.
It is helpful to compare the Flake versus Vein Market place to gain the proper understanding of the Value and Price.
I wanted to consolidate some important data points and really look closely at the Price of Vein and MRL Corporation along with it...
1/ The U.S.A. is a 100% importer of Graphite, and has recently joined China and the European Union in classifying Graphite as a critical strategic material. This has far reaching consequences in my opinion.
2/ A further 344km2 are currently under application for licence. Assets are value.
3/ Very little upgrading and processing is required to make a high-quality saleable product with Vein Graphite.
4/ Vein graphite is the rarest, most valuable form of natural Graphite. A true safe haven commodity. The Vein Graphite difference from flake is its crystal structure, the end-users use it in specific applications, it is the most competitive with China.
5/ Large tons of graphite don't actually impress as much as you might think. Finding buyers for all those tons is a massive hurdle.
6/ Smaller projects that hit revenue targets are intrinsically valuable. MRL has set sound, achievable targets and that extrapolates into revenue targets.
7/ Supply shortages are to be expected by 2020. A predicted shortage of 100k to 130k tons per year as demand by the BRIC nations expands.
8/ End-users purify lower-grade graphite in-house to save costs and to pay mines less.
9/ End-users are starting large volume buying again after the 2012 dip.
10/ Graphiters are quicker to market all round beating out base and precious metals.
11/ It is easier for small companies to adapt and change to meet their end-users product specifications, allowing them to set the higher price. Larger companies often have invested in one set of specifications and find the costs of changing exorbitant.
12/ Vein Graphite is special, many graphiters face large metallurgical processing costs the Vein does not have. Low cost plays a part whether or not to invest long or short. If the costs are high that has to weigh upon decisions because delays snag up confidence.
13/ MRL can keep capital costs low, this is very important to see in the budget and the management. Paying in shares to keep the management strong is one of the best ways to keep down capital costs. Another is mining in an emerging nation with tax and currency advantages.
14/ Vein graphite is a niche market supplied only by Sri Lanka. Graphiters are at the mercy of the End-users because they have specific requirements from their input material to their finished product and any change to the production line costs. End-users favor smaller tons of Graphite that meet their needs and will favor MRL for that alone.
15/ MRL is not beholden to anyone but the shareholders, they have excellent kingmakers CPS Group Capital and can make JV's and deals with End-users early on in the exploration, mining and shipping steps that they must take.
16/ Whenever low-cost production can be sold at the premium without delays revenue follows.
IRR - Internal Rate of Return.... Small consistent tons allows for one single customers. Multiple customers multiple headaches.
