"We also have another player in this one-step graphene process, MRL Resources (ASX:MRF) with its crystalline vein project in Sri Lanka. MRL says its deposit has a very high crystalline carbon content not observed in any other previously tested graphite materials. The company said it will now consider the merits of producing both graphite and graphene in its development plan and it will begin talks with several research organizations to find a way to production. MRL employs a combined thermal and mechanical process to isolate the graphene directly from the raw graphite (without milling) and without having to produce graphene oxide."
It was billed as one of the key discussions about the wonder material. And it was held in Manchester, where graphene was discovered. Graphite is grabbing headlines, graphene is now starting to join it in the spotlight. Therefore, clearly this was a major news event especially as some of the leaders in the field were presenting papers there.
So, plenty of news to write about, yes? Well, no, by the look of it. Put the conference into Google News and you will see several reports that the conference was beginning on June 13. But as for what went on their – call that a great blank.
From Die Welt to The Financial Times graphene has been covered of late; but it’s déjà vu for those of us who went through the rare earth frenzy in 2011 when everybody in the media and their dog discovered REE. You remember: “Rare earths comprise 17 elements that do everything from ….”
Well, you know only too well. Only this time it’s all that basic information about graphene being one atom thick and 200 times stronger than steel. As for the Manchester conference, nothing that I could find. So how about the websites? Checked Scientific American, Science Daily and Discovery. Nothing.
Plenty of newspapers still, even in their present dark days, have science writers. And there is no question that the Manchester conference would have provided plenty to write about.
Fortunately, someone there took the trouble to write up some aspects. Warwick Grigor of Canaccord Genuity is one of Australia’s best known and most respected analysts of the mining sector and he makes a point of looking at projects for himself. He arrived in Manchester for the conference after being in Turkey (assessing gold and uranium projects) and Sweden (where he went to the mining centre of Kiruna).
Grigor has sent out some news on the conference for his clients, and has written up the event in a manner suited to investors trying to get their heads around graphene rather than for specialists.
He noted that the lecture theatre was “full of high-powered brains giving papers on the uses of graphene for a wide range of purposes”.
He says the most notable feature was the universal acceptance that graphene could be combined with many different substances, in relatively small amounts, to great enhance projects. He saw it as not so much about graphene in isolation; rather it seemed to him the interest was in graphene as an additive.
Grigor said there were two corporate/financial speakers who, interestingly, spoke of graph as a “disruptive technology”. They clearly wanted game-changer developments, not incremental advances.
“One speaker said that there were 50 producers of graphene in the world today, but obviously he was including parties that produce a few kilograms at a time,” writes Grigor.
“Other people I spoke to said they had trouble sourcing graphene and, sometimes when they had purchased it, the product resembled graphite a lot more than it did graphene. Presenters frequently talked about the production process being ‘bottom up’ or ‘top down’, with all of them involving an element of secrecy, complications and cost”.
Grigor has been watching the graphite scene for some time, acknowledges that it has been “a hot sector”, but adds that much of the interest (at least in Australia) is attributable to graphite and not so much to graphene.
Graphene uses begin to multiply but analyst warns commercialization process will be a challenging one
Graphene is moving fast from a promising new wonder material to being harnessed in a growing number of applications. Just in recent days, as reported on Investor Intel, India has developed a graphene-based sensor to detect a dangerous food toxin that is said to cause cancer; the South Koreans believe they will begin to commercialize graphene in a number of applications by 2017; there is news of a graphene light bulb and graphene’s use in mobile communications.
Add to those the news that a graphene-based phone will soon be mass-produced, the graphene allowing the touchscreen to transmit more light and offer a better array of colours. We are indebted to Warwick Grigor, who runs Far East Capital out of Sydney, Australia, for the news that Graphenano, a Spanish company, is working with Tokyo Electric Co to use graphene to clean up contaminated water around the Fukushima site.
The company says graphene is 60 times more efficient than any other material for the purpose, and it expects over the coming years to use tonnes of graphene in this process. As Grigor adds, while nuclear cleanup has not been suggested before as a use of graphene, its employment makes sense: graphene membrane is the ultimate filter material. “On water alone, there is a $400 billion a year industry that offers great opportunities”.
I should pause here to talk about Grigor and his interest in graphene. Warwick is one of the most experienced Australian analysts of mining stocks, and of the smaller, emerging companies especially. For his clients, he charts more than 130 juniors on a daily basis, dropping those that disappoint and constantly adding newcomers with more promising stories. He has also been chairman of several mining juniors, including one that is now emerging as a successful uranium story.
But he has attracted particular attention for his new interest in graphene, and the material is rarely absent these days from his weekly client notes. He has also made the financial pages in Australia for taking a substantial investment in one graphite player, Talga Resources (ASX:TLG), which has an unusual ore body in Sweden and which last month announced it would build a graphene plant in Germany to process the graphite its plans to mine.
Grigor has embarked on what seems almost a crusade to convince investors that graphene is the place for them to be, including issuing an extremely thorough research report into the whole evolution of graphene.
“In the same way that salt, pepper and spices greatly enhance a culinary experience, graphene will dramatically improve the qualities of the materials to which it is added,” he explains to clients. “History tells us that there were fortunes made out of the spice trade, so why can’t there be fortunes made out of graphene?”
Graphene may, at first, seem very expensive but cost is not really an impediment. He explains that one gram of graphene, being one atom thick, can cover an area of 2,600 square feet. If graphene makes up 1% of a material to which it is being added, cost is little given the level of enhancement.
But it is not going to all clear sailing.
His report argues that whatever price you are being quoted today, it will not be the price at which commercial quantities will be made available for applications in the future. The issue is complicated by the fact any new producer will be constrained by the lack of depth of demand in the early stages of commercialization of graphene-enhanced products.
Grigor makes it plain that, in his view, it is going to take some time for us to see how the graphene market will be shaped. This will depend on there being a number of commercial suppliers that result in a competitive market; there will also need to be a credible authentication and standards regime that makes possible comparison of specifications and quality of graphene projects.
“In the absence of these parameters we are likely to see a fragmented and secretive market, as it is now, where transactions between buyers and sellers will be highly confidential as to pricing and quality,” he argues.
Moreover the industry would be open to disruption from sources of low-cost graphene.
We can see the Consistency of Mr Grigor's thoughts on this over the last few years and his insights on the impact of Cheap Graphene...
More over he knows what is needed to bring Graphene to make in a real way. He is all in and this new Partner for MRL Corporation is a massive Rocket stage for MRL to enter the world market competently.
I am confident that MRL can consistently Produce ORE in time for the Maritime Silk Roads completion...
What I am concerned for is Assets. I think MRL Corporation is ultimately served by more dormant mines; not just depth.
The ORE into GRAPHENE is like a sports car and the dormant mines the race track. I think MRL Corporation needs to enlarge its track this year if possible.
Clearly MR Grigor has a full grasp of Battery Producers and other Partners for MRL Corporation in my opinion.
What do you think?
Kind Regards
To Make Mistakes is Easy !!! Could be 100% Wrong !!! To Err is Human !!! DYOR !!!