Stratmin Global Live Discussion

Mars_2050 20 May 2016

STGR Mine manager article Graphite Mining - Processing secrets.May 17, 2016 • Wilhelm ReitzGraphite Mine Manager Stratmin Global Resources[link] Processing secrets.With the growing interest in the Graphite industry and more new players entering the mining sector with their eyes focused on graphite it is becoming important to shed some light on the difficulties on the actual graphite purification process. So many are focussed on the resource, the quality of the graphite to be mined especially the flake sizes and purity and off course the size of the recourse but many forget or are not well informed about the required process to purify graphite to a point where it can be presented as saleable graphite to the industry. Not many investors are aware of the difficulties and processing “secrets” concerning the refining of graphite and believe me, many “secrets” unquestionably do exist. I recently spoke to a successful graphite producer in India and he told me they are so secretive on the refining process that they do not even allow their chief geologist to visit their processing facility. For sure there are many experts who are willing to share their secrets but those who fall in that category are dedicated to target projects and will certainly not share their knowledge to the general public. Be aware that there are many “experts” and then there are experts but one thing is for sure, many of the graphite processing and refining methods will remain secrets. Experts will remain experts because they know too many secrets.Many already graphite producing companies are aware and will testify of all the difficulties encountered while they were struggling to produce marketable graphite. Teething problems are common in the mining industry but in the graphite game it can be frustrating and costly when desire results are not accomplished in time. The market requires a very high degree of purity and together with that the bigger the flake size the better the price but that is not always so easy achievable. Many companies will bear witness in the difficulties in producing a pure graphite product while maintaining flake sizes. In most cases to achieve a high grade means sacrificing flake sizes and to get both is where some “secrets” come in to play. Apart from grade and flake sizes, many companies also struggle with recovery and for them to have high recovery with high purity and maintaining flake sizes is only a dream that hopefully can be turn into reality, but can and will it? So where is the problem and why so difficult to achieve desire results?The problem is not so much the process once you have master it but to find the competent person who has already master it is. To understand the real difficulty in refining graphite we need to look at the processes involved and from this we can appreciate the money and effort put into the correct plant design to turn dreams into reality. Even when you have the correct and “guaranteed” successful flow sheet the truth is that no company will ever have a turnkey success without many trials and errors. Engineering needs to work very closely with geology to design the best suitable plant for that specific resource and that can’t be more true for graphite. Even within the presenting recourse, ore bodies will differ and that needs to be thoroughly addressed in the planning process. Graphite deposits differ and what work on one project does not mean it can necessarily work on another.Graphite Mining - Processing secrets.May 17, 2016 • 10 Likes • 3 CommentsGraphite Processing secrets.With the growing interest in the Graphite industry and more new players entering the mining sector with their eyes focused on graphite it is becoming important to shed some light on the difficulties on the actual graphite purification process. So many are focussed on the resource, the quality of the graphite

Mars_2050 19 May 2016

Green Energy Alliance Blue print for Stratmin's future direction?Grafoid Inc. Formalizes its Green Energy Business Alliance With Focus Graphite, Stria Lithium and Braille BatteryThe "2GL Platform" Integrates Graphene, Graphite, Lithium and Battery InnovationOTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 18, 2016) - Grafoid Inc., a privately held developer of industrial scale graphene applications is pleased to announce the formalization of a strategic green energy business alliance branded as the 2GL Platform.The collaborative agreement, executed in late March, 2016 unifies for the first time, the development of materials, technologies and processes critical for next generation energy applications under a shared vision and direction.Grafoid Inc. is a world-leading graphene research, development and investment company that invests in, manages and develops markets for processes that produce economically scalable graphene for use in graphene applications. (www.grafoid.com)Focus Graphite Inc. is an emerging graphite mining development company with the objective of producing value-added products for the lithium-ion battery market and graphite for graphene enhanced applications and products. (www.focusgraphite.com)Stria Lithium Inc. is a junior mining exploration company with an expanding technology focus in lithium metal and foil. (www.strialithium.com)Braille Battery Inc. is a leading manufacturer and seller of ultra-lightweight high performance AGM and lithium-ion batteries. (www.braillebattery.com)2GL Platform's website can be found at: www.2GLPlatform.com"2GL Platform is an alliance for future growth. It benefits from the integration of battery innovation from four leading critical materials development companies," said Grafoid Founding Partner and CEO Gary Economo.The alliance incorporates a mine-to-market next generation energy production and storage supply chain whereby:High performing graphene will be supplied by Grafoid; battery grade graphite will be supplied by Focus Graphite; lithium metal and lithium foil will be supplied by Stria Lithium; while battery production and sales will be through Braille Battery."The establishment of 2GL is the affirmation of our vision that integrating innovation from a strategic alliance provides us with a competitive advantage from a joint marketing platform," said Mr. Economo. "The potential from next generation green energy markets is enormous."pushing the boundaries of battery technologies, we aim to supply both materials and the know-how that create better energy storage applications at a cost acceptable for widespread adoption," Mr. Economo said.R&D will be coordinated through Grafoid's Global Technology Center in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.BackgroundHighly purified and manufactured graphite, lithium and thermal management are the main components of rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries for automotive, energy storage and portable electronic devices. Graphene, derived from high purity graphite surpasses graphite's physical abilities to conduct electricity used in battery anodes and cathodes by multiple factors.Next generation Li-ion batteries now under development aim to meet two related global objectives: manufacturers' requirements for higher performing battery components at lower costs for the electrification of transportation sectors and energy storage industries, and; a universal political imperative for the reduction of carbon emissions to stem global warming.Grafoid's emergence in 2011 evolved from management's business vision to capture, exploit and lead the development of graphene's enormous future potential in diverse industrial sectors - chief among them, next generation energy production and storage, lightweight durable automotive components and, coatings for the aerospace, marine and non-transportation sectors.The source of Grafoid's high performing Mesograf™, Amphioxide™ and GrafeneX graphene materials and products is Focus Gr

readyeddie 18 May 2016

Mars-2050 thanks for all the info but the SP does not reflect this, why is this so?

Mars_2050 18 May 2016

Sector news Germany approves new incentives, tax breaks to boost demand for Electric Vehicles, to meet target of 1 million EVs by 2020. [link] In Talks With LG, Samsung, SK Innovation For Battery Cells For Model 3[link] Gigafactory”. BMZ has opened 1st section of what will be Europe’s biggest lithium-ion battery factory [link] to boost energy storage 10x to cut power waste [link]

Mars_2050 18 May 2016

Graphite miners next to boom The Graphite Miners Could Be Next To BoomMay. 13, 2016 12:12 PMSummaryBoth the EU and USA have named graphite a supply critical mineral.The graphite spot price is currently depressed; however, lithium battery demand should soon change this.Most production currently comes out of China, but I have focused on the US, Canadian and Australian miners as they are usually accessible to US investors.I previously wrote about the Lithium miners here and here, and the cobalt miners here on Seeking Alpha. Next on the list of the key elements in the lithium ion battery is "graphite." These are the key components of lithium batteries used to power electric vehicles and the energy storage revolution.With 12 lithium ion battery "mega factories" set to come on line by 2020 according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (and 7 of those in China), owning more of the supply chain makes a great deal of strategic sense.GraphiteGraphite is used for the battery anode. It takes 30 to 40 times more graphite than lithium to make a lithium ion battery. Whilst the graphite used in the lithium ion battery can be synthetic, generally that is a lot more expensive than natural graphite. There are almost no substitutes and little recycling of graphite.Whilst graphite is very abundant globally, the key is to find high quality (high % of carbon, spherical shape, flake graphite). The three types of graphite are flake, amorphous, and vein. Flake is the one used in electric vehicle batteries. This is due to its flexible, highly refractory, chemically alert, and has high thermal and electrical conductivity.Aside from lithium-ion batteries, flake graphite can be used in pebble-bed nuclear reactors, fuel cells, as well as in the refractory and steel industries. Graphene is single layers of graphite.More below[link]

Mars_2050 12 May 2016

Graphite market report Taken from advfnGood strategic Graphite Market report published by Benchmark Minerals for IMX (ASX:ISR)May 10 2016 p19[link] Madagascar, Major refractory producer RHI AG (Stratmin's sales to "Austria", expandable and micronised graphite.Buzz words from latest Stratmin interview....................................Flake size analysis and marketGraphite from each flake size category has different markets and applications and these are addressed in the following sections.Jumbo and Super Jumbo FlakeSuper Jumbo flake graphite (+35 mesh or >500 micron) and Jumbo flake graphite (-35 mesh+50 mesh or 300-500 micron) are the coarsest flake graphite products in the market. Chilalo’s higher proportion in these categories creates a competitive advantage compared to most other graphite companies and will represent the high margin portion of the business.The major market for jumbo and super jumbo flake graphite is the expandable graphite market.Expandable graphite is flake graphite that has been washed in sulphuric acid and then heated causing rapid expansion to 250 to 750 times its original size (the expansion ratio). The rate of expansion is dependent on the level of impurities in the flake graphite.The main markets for expandable graphite are:Graphite foil / sheetsGasketsFlame RetardantsSupply restrictions from the Shandong Province have resulted in a squeeze for jumbo and super jumbo flake graphite. Chinese firms are currently importing from MADAGASCAR but new sources of supply are required. New supply of jumbo and super jumbo flake graphite is expected to come from Tanzania and Mozambique, as well as from Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia Province in China.The main target markets for IMX by country would be:ChinaGermanyUSALarge FlakeLarge flake graphite (-50 mesh+80 mesh or 180-300 micron) represents a substantial portion of Chilalo product.Large flake graphite is primarily sold direct as a concentrate to the world’s leading refractory producers such as RHI AG (Austria), Vesuvius (UK), Calderys / Imerys (France), Magnesita Refractarios (Brazil), Magnezit (Russia), and ANH Refractories (USA). These are the major producers of magnesia-carbon bricks that are sold into the steel industry – the only sector which uses graphite-based refractory bricks.Refractories are high temperature resistant linings for steel furnaces, ladles and other products that come in contact with molten metal and are the leading consuming market for flake graphite, consuming 180 ktpa of large and medium flake graphite in 2014. Whilst it is the largest market, it is growing slowly at approximately 3% per annum.There is a market trend towards producing higher quality, longer lasting refractories requiring better quality raw materials. It is expected that demand for large flake graphite will strengthen in coming years, particularly as Chinese refractory manufacturers increase the quality of their raw materials.Large flake graphite can also be processed into a number of value-added products including purified graphite and uncoated spherical graphite. However, large flake graphite is not as economically competitive as finer flake graphite in the spherical graphite production process.Medium FlakeMedium flake graphite (-80 mesh+100 mesh or 150-180 micron) is also sold into the refractory market, especially the Chinese domestic refractory market. China is the largest producer of medium flake graphite, with 70% of its product either medium flake or fines. As a result, the price of medium flake can be volatile.Medium flake graphite is also used as a feedstock into a number of value-added products such as uncoated spherical graphite and micronised graphite.Uncoated spherical graphite is produced mainly using fine and medium flake graphite with 95% of output originating in China.Micron

Mars_2050 11 May 2016

Dyson next Tesla Dyson could become next Tesla with its electric car, says expert[link]

Mars_2050 11 May 2016

Total enters battery market TOTAL MAKES 1.1$ BILLION DOLLAR BATTERY BID FOR FOOTHOLD IN THE NEW OIL11th May 2016UncategorisedBenchmark Mineral IntelligenceFrench oil and gas conglomerate, Total, has made a bid to acquire Saft, the Paris-based battery specialist for $1.1bn.The news, broken by Bloomberg, is the first major foray by a fossil fuel producer into what is emerging as a major new growth industry.Saft is a specialist producer of a variety of different battery types including lithium ion technologies in aerospace, utility and transport applications. The French company invested $76m into battery R&D in 2015, the equivalent to 9% of its sales.Mass producing lower cost and denser lithium ion batteries is the key to cracking the renewable energy conundrum that has failed to take off since developments began in the late-1990s.The battery industry has only seen serious investment in R&D over the last three years, however Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is now tracking at least 12 lithium ion megafactories due to come online by 2020.Committed investment into new lithium ion battery capacity is in excess of $15bn – a figure that does not include any recent acquisitions such as Dyson’s purchase of Satki 3.Total is seeking to use the acquisition of Saft to partner with its SunPower division, a producer of solar modules for solar energy capture, a business it purchased in 2011.Lithium ion batteries are at the centre of a real convergence of three multi-billion dollar industries: energy, auto and technology (see chart).Covergance TrendSolar energy is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of the energy storage revolution, a trend which is being aided by improving economics.Production cost of solar cells have fallen from $5/wh to 30 cents in 2016. Meanwhile the cost of producing lithium ion battery cells has dropped from $1,200/kWh to $250-300/kWh in the same time period.While the solar industry has gone through its boom, bust, and real growth cycle, lithium ion batteries are just getting started.Both technologies are widely tipped to go hand in hand, a strategy that a number of tech-industrialists are seeking to follow, including Tesla Motors’ Elon Musk who owns Solar City in California.Total follows Rockefeller, GatesTotal’s ambition to enter the battery industry echoes a new policy from The Rockefeller Family Fund to exit all investments in the fossil fuel industry.The $4bn fund that built its fortune from oil and was created by descendants of the grandfather of the global oil industry, John D Rockefeller, announced in March that it will divest from all fossil fuel holdings “as quickly as possible”, of which ExxonMobil is the highest profile.It also follows the move by Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, to launch the Breakthrough Energy Coalition (BEC) in November 2015, a new initiative that will invest in the low carbon economy supply chain. an industry that includes lithium ion batteries and precursor raw materials such as lithium, graphite and cobalt.This sector includes lithium ion batteries and precursor raw materials, supply chains for which must develop and increase capacities at a rate never seen before in order to feed the world’s growing hunger for batteries. For example, Benchmark estimates that the battery grade graphite sector will need to grow at least three fold in four years to keep pace with demand.The BEC has a team of 28 of the world’s wealthiest individuals, with a collective wealth of over $400bn, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Virgin Group’s Sir Richard Branson and Alibaba’s Jack Ma.While Total has made no statements on the future of the oil industry, its strategy is clear with a multi-billion dollar bet that energy storage becomes the new oil.Now watch the rest of the oil majors follow.

readyeddie 09 May 2016

Mars-2050 I have been invested since 2013 topping up all the way through but still the SP falls even with such potential demand and already producing/selling am I wrong in pointing out that the SP has fallen dramatically since 2015 at a time when if all is so advanced surely it should be rising?

Mars_2050 08 May 2016

WSJ Tesla shakes up market for lithium, other metals[link]

Mars_2050 05 May 2016

Madagascar - India sales India graphite import data from Madagascar[link] Graphite exports from Madagascar to Indian ports (sabarmati, mundra & vizac sea)Most likely Graphmada's (STGR) shipments to India (see RNS)2 May 20t value..$2113021 April 66t.........$4130013 April 20t11 April 20t31 March 66t25 March 20t23 March 20t18 March 20t4 March...20t1 March...20t....

Mars_2050 04 May 2016

Graphite demand to treble in 4y GRAPHITE DEMAND FROM LITHIUM ION BATTERIES TO MORE THAN TREBLE IN 4 YEARS4th May 2016 Benchmark Mineral Intelligence [link] for graphite (carbon) used as anode material in lithium ion batteries is set to increase by over 200% in the next four years as global cell production surges on the back of maturing pure electric vehicle demand and the inception of the utility storage market.New data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence forecasts the anode market – which is nearly exclusively served by naturally sourced spherical graphite and synthetically produced graphite – to increase from 80,000 tpa in 2015 to at least 250,000 tpa by the end of 2020 while the market could be as large as 400,000 tpa in the most bullish of cases with no supply restrictions.Taking the most conservative case, Benchmark estimates that over 360,000 tonnes of medium flake graphite will be needed as a feedstock source for the spherical material by 2020. This is nearly a doubling of the flake concentrate market in 2015 should the natural-to-synthetic demand proportions remain the same in 2020.At present, China produces 100% of the world’s spherical graphite which is predominately sourced from mines in Heilongjiang province in the country’s north-east.Demand is being underpinned by major expansions in the lithium ion battery industry that are underway worldwide as the sector matures from megawatt plants to gigawatt scale operations.Benchmark is tracking at least 12 lithium ion megafactories worldwide, seven of which are located in China and two in the US. far the largest plant under construction is Tesla Motors’ Gigafactory 1 in Nevada – a $5bn investment set to reach its 35GWh capacity by 2020.However, nearly 70% of new lithium ion battery demand for raw materials will be coming from China as the country’s major cell manufactures, such as ATL and Lishen, expand their operations in a race to become the world’s lowest cost producer.Investments in new lithium ion battery capacity out to 2020 are in excess of $12bn and rising according to Benchmark data.This is set to have a significant impact on demand for graphite anode material as cell manufacturers seek to lock up long term supplies of the material.Battery DemandNatural or synthetic?Today, 65% of all battery anode material is sourced from natural spherical graphite, 30% from synthetic graphite material and the remaining 5% from other alternatives such as lithium titante, silicon and tin used in very small amounts in different technologies and testing of new anode formulas.Analysing the consumption trends over the last 10 years, there is little doubt that battery consumers prefer naturally sourced graphite which is much lower cost to produce and has a lower environmental impact than synthetic graphite.However, consistency of supply remains a problem for the material as the feedstock flake graphite is sourced from multiple mines in China, each of which have different raw material ‘signatures’ – impurities that vary from mine to mine.With synthetic graphite, as it is man made from lower quality carbon raw materials such as petroleum coke, producers can offer a more consistent product albeit it at a higher price.Prices: Graphite versus lithiumWhile lithium prices are experiencing their strongest ever surge, graphite has lagged behind.Flake graphite – the feedstock source for spherical graphite – is seeing little to no upward pressure after being weighed down by a lack of demand in the steel sector, its primary market.However, new price data from Benchmark has started to show rising prices for uncoated spherical graphite, 99.95% C, 15 micron in size, FOB China.Price ranges in the market have risen from $2,500 to $3,000/tonne in Q4 2015, to $2,800 to $3,200/tonne in Q2 2016.It will take some growth in the battery market

Mars_2050 04 May 2016

Tiny market cap Every company has risk but there's an awful amount of value/upside chucked in at this Market cap.Stratmin Global.......£2.7mBass Metals.............£2.6m!Not much volume on ASX, Aussies seem to be waiting for the deal to go through before the buying frenzy starts. Once deal goes through Bass-Stratmin Market cap on ASX will be...?Let's see what our of Australian non-producing graphite peers, years away from production, not generating any cash, are valued at...Australia (ASX) May 4, 2016Magnis market cap tripled to now $230 million!Kibaran Resources....A$33m - £17mVolt Resources..........A$35m - £18mTalga Resources.......A$42m - £23mMagnis Resources...A$230m - £119mSyrah Minerals..A$1.06 Billion!! - £547mMadagascar peer (TSX-Canada)Energizer Resources..C$32m - £17.5mProduction start 2018Stratmin/Bass.....................£2.7m!HmmmChris Berry, Graphite Mining Analyst:The point of this note is not to pick winners or make companies look bad, but rather to point out some of the inexplicable dislocations in the graphite space. How can STGR, a graphite producer, have the lowest market capitalization and enterprise value of its peers? Regardless of the industry, shouldn’t a company generating revenues be more valuable than one that isn’t? A Graphite producer ought to have a higher valuation than aspiring entrants.After all, the proverbial boxes have been tickedermitting, sufficient infrastructure, customer base, real producing assets (as opposed to highly speculative land with evidence of graphite), revenue and operating cash flow.As always DYOR GLA

Mars_2050 04 May 2016

Quick facts about graphite There is approximately 10 times more graphite in a lithium-ion battery than there is lithium.Approximately 45,000 tonnes per year of spherical graphite is consumed globally in the manufacturing of anodes for lithium-ion batteries alone, with approximately 30,000 tonnes being natural. (source: Avicenne Battery Report)The main substitute for natural graphite is synthetic graphite, which is made from a by-product of petroleum refining, is a very energy intensive and expensive process that has a larger environmental impact than its natural counterpart.Today, lithium-ion batteries for EVs are a mixture of both natural and synthetic graphite, with the synthetic graphite being as much as double the cost to produce as compared to natural flake graphite. (source: Industrial Minerals)Uncoated spherical graphite ranges between $2,500-$3,000/tonne, while coated material hovers around $7,000-10,000/tonne. For synthetic spherical graphite, the prices can be as much as $15,000-$20,000/tonne. (source: Industrial Minerals price database)The amount of natural graphite in an average hybrid EV is 10 kilograms or 22 pounds; an average EV is 50 kilograms or 110 pounds; a Tesla Model S has 80 kilograms or 170 pounds. (source: Toyota)The Tesla Gigafactory, if producing at capacity, would consume approximately 40,000 tonnes of spherical graphite by the year 2020. This represents the entire current global output of spherical graphite for lithium-ion batteries. (source: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence)The process of "rounding" flake graphite into spherical graphite is inefficient. It takes approximately 2 to 2.5 tonnes of natural flake graphite to produce 1 tonne of battery-grade spherical graphite.Natural graphite performs better than synthetic in increasing the energy density (i.e. range) of a lithium battery for EV applications. A battery made with 100% natural would outperform an all-synthetic counterpart. (source: Toyota)Synthetic graphite is used because of its consistent high quality and purity, security of supply and can be easily engineered to the exact requirements needed for the battery chemistry of the anode.Over the last decade, use of natural graphite has been steadily increasing in lithium-ion batteries. In 2013, a lithium-ion graphite anode consisted on average of 64% natural and 26% synthetic. The weighting of natural graphite versus synthetic is predicted to rise even further. In 2003, the split was 75%/25% in favour of synthetic. (source: Avicenne Battery Report)2015 is set to be the strongest year for demand of spherical graphite on record, with a 27% compounded growth rate since 2009. (source: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence)

Mars_2050 02 May 2016

Bass deal Good post by Jim, LSEI agree - however I believe the tranches of the Bass deal must also have something to do with regulatory issues around the transaction. If you think about it, given Bass's mcap, if Stratmin takes equity in Bass to even £2m at an early stage in the transaction it will end up in a merger/TO/RTO situation which will potentially leave both companies suspended in the market for a period of time. It might also have a knock-on effect on one or both company's accrued tax loss situation.Whilst I do understand and have taken on board the concerns about the tranche criteria, it also offers a way forwards for Bass, Bass's future investors and Stratmin to maintain a shareholding under any threshold for entering TO phase.I raised this point with Stratmin's CEO and he told me he couldn't talk about the details yet, but I pressed him on what would happen if the tranche criteria were not met and Bass managed to take the asset at a minimum cost. I asked him directly if there would be any buy-back clause or other safeguards against this and he said that would certainly be something a deal like this would have. (He clearly can't tell me any details during this close period).I then did some digging with my contacts and I firmly believe Stratmin have a deal that looks after our interests, funds graph mada properly to consistently deliver quality flake on a low cost base and de-risks our future. I have raised the point repeatedly that the deal seems to cap our upside potential and increase new risks, but I keep coming back to the fact that this deal also massively de-risks funding - and I think anyone looking at the mcap here right now can see the problem with relying on AIM to get that money.So I'm fairly confident that we'll get an acceptable return from the Bass deal, that we will retain shares in Bass that will give us access to some of the upside - yet limiting the downside....