Lithium and Graphite miners begin to shine as Rockwood gets bought for 6.2B and Tesla announces it's "Giga Factory" for Lithium batteries

  Why we own Focus Graphite Shares

Focus Graphite has been one of our core holdings in the emerging electric car market and for graphene development. Here are 10 reasons why we bought into this Canadian junior.

1. Holds two properties containing strategically and economically important minerals
– graphite and neodymium – needed for green initiatives, and; for European and U.S. national and
industrial security.

2. Economics: The Lac Knife graphite deposit holds the highest concentration of flake graphite in the world at 16%. And their positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA, Oct ‘12) outlined robust economics: mine life of 20 years, $3.7 billion total net revenue, $926 million pre-tax undiscounted cash
flow, a 32% pre-tax IRR with a $246 million pre-tax NPV at a 10% discount rate. Lac Knife is anticipated
to go in production in early 2015

3. Supply conditions favor Focus Graphite. China controls the global market with over 70% of worldwide graphite production and with the United States producing no graphite, security of supply is critical.

 Super Capacitors printed on Graphene
4. Market applications favour the company. Future demand will be driven by green technology initiatives
in the Carbon Age - lithium batteries, electronics - and advanced technology-grade graphite applications and products and the discovery of the "miracle material" graphene!

5. The numbers tell the story. Current world production of graphite is approximately 1.2mt of which 40% is
flake graphite.

 To meet future estimated demand, some 25 new mines would be required by 2020.

6. Strategic implications will dictate future development. The U.S. and Europe are vulnerable to
graphite and neodymium shortages. Both the E.U. and the U.S. Government have designated graphite
as a critical mineral.

7. The Kwyjibo REE property has a strategic partner in the Government of Quebec through SOQUEM, a wholly–owned subsidiary of Investissement Quebec which is responsible for fostering economic development and job creation in Quebec.


8. The discovery of graphene will change the way we work, live and play in the future. At one atom thick, it is the strongest material known to science. It conducts electricity better than copper, is transparent, can be shaped to suit any form and can be modified to suit different industrial end-uses.

9. Graphene is most economical to produce from high quality, natural flake graphite such as that found at Lac Knife

 Graphene - the “new silicon” - provides limitless commercial opportunities through Focus Graphite’s
investment in Grafoid Inc. owns (40% )  Grafoid invests in, manages, and co-develops application solutions from economically scalable graphene.



10. Focus Graphite is positioned perfectly for long-term growth with the right resources, the right management and the right strategic partners as evidenced in its JV with Hydro-Quebec as technology partner in graphite purification and anode production.

Focus Graphite Inc. (TSX VENTURE:FMS)(OTCQX:FCSMF)(FRANKFURT:FKC)

Ed note:  We have been high on Graphite as a crucial material of the future of lithium batteries for some time now and also took positions in several other Graphite companies including Graftech Intl, Flinders Resources. Mason Graphite, Lomiko Metals, and Berkwood Resources.

Graphene Will Change The World And Fortunes Will Be Made!

In their paper, "The rise of Graphene" A.K. Geim and K.S. Novoselov, of the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester point out, in understated terms, that "Graphene is a rapidly rising star on the horizon of materials science and condensed matter physics"!

I say this is an understatement because it does not adequately describe the profound changes in modern society that graphene development promises to deliver.

At this writing, hundreds of companies and labs around the world are in a frenzy of testing and development to bring the amazing properties of Graphene into the production of nanoscale computer chips, super strength (and super light weight) materials for Aeronautic, military and space applications, electronics, medicine, energy storage and so many other areas too numerous to mention here. Lux Research, in their report on advanced materials, lists the following:

Technologies: Nano-enabled coatings Wear- and corrosion-resistant coatings Tribological and anti-fouling coatings Superhydrophobic coatings Ceramic nanoparticles Carbon fiber composites Composite processing and recycling technologies High temperature thermoplastics Carbon nanotubes Graphene Nanostructured catalysts/supports Nanocrystalline metals High performance metals alloys like AHSS, Al, Mg, and Ti Metal matrix composites Metal injection molding Sheet magnesium 3D printing Smart materials and fluids Self-healing materials Metamaterials

Applications: Electrostatically-paintable composite automotive body panels 3D Printing and additive manufacturing Wind turbine composite blades and anti-icing coatings Aerospace coatings and structural composites Chrome-coating replacement Oil & gas drill shafts, production tubulars, and risers Electrostatic dissipation (ESD) and electromagnetic interference (EMI)-shielding Tribological coatings for internal combustion engines Diesel oxidation catalysts Polymer production from waste CO2 Filament wound CFRP pressure vessels

Companies: Zyvex Technologies tripleO MesoCoat Materials Innovation Technologies XG Sciences Morris Technologies Meridian Magnesium Polymics Nanogate Technologies Diamon-Fusion International Bayer MaterialScience Posco SGL Group Toray

Large companies at the forefront of graphene engineering include a who's who of the tech world. To date there has been a virtual space race to patent all of the properties of this "wonder material".

Princeton University's Quentin Tannock, in an article entitled "Exploiting carbon flatland" points out how many of today's Universities now value the patent landscape as a scientific "sharing" of information for experimentation, and in particular, in the area of Graphene and Nano Engineering. He also laments how many researchers are unable to capitalize on their discoveries in the marketplace, without a partnership of some sort with private companies. Although Rice University and the University of Manchester have been at the forefront of Graphene experimentation, it is private industry that owns most of the patents in graphene development.

Three Tech giants, IBM, Samsung and Sandisk, already have filed hundreds of patents for graphene discoveries. These three in fact hold the most patents in that order, and are at the forefront of graphene development in electronics and Semiconductors. For instance IBM holds graphene patents for such diverse applications as DNA Sequencing, graphene transistors, 3D, and graphene solar cells, just to name a few. Samsung's include: flexible screens, graphene/lithium batteries, moisture resistant electronics, and antidot spin valves.

Other patent holders include (but are not limited to) : The U.S. Navy (high resolution films), Apple (AAPL) (batteries), Head (tennis rackets), Kia and Hyundai (fuel cells), Saab (de-icing airplanes) Kimberly Clark (KMB), Toyota (TM) (lithium air batteries), Sony (SNE) (drug delivery), Honda (HMC) (gas sensors), Xerox (XRX) (printing), Angston (lubricants), Polimeri (Thermal insulation), Foxconn (loudspeakers), AMD (AMD) (3D), DOE (Tesla coils), and Bayer (Obtaining graphene from graphite by chemical means)

There is also a global race for patents in the nanomedicine field. At Lake Forest Medical Research Centre, Dr. Ravi Singh is currently researching the use of Graphene nanotubes to target and destroy cancer tumors. This is only one of many possible medical uses for this wonder material.

There is not enough room here to list all of the companies,the patent applications, or potential uses for graphene based materials, but you get the point. That is, the world is about to change and fortunes will be made!

In January of this year, the European Commission made graphene research a priority, pledging $1 Billion Euros to research and development of graphene initiatives. A "graphene Flagship Consortium" headed by Nokia (NOK) recently received a $1.35 Billion graphene research grant from the EU.

From an investors perspective, many companies stand to benefit from their graphene patents and research. Because of their front runner positions on the patent landscape, I believe the best bets are: International Business Machines Nokia Sandisk (SNDK) and Samsung. Both IBM and Samsung each hold over 100 patents in the graphene space and Nokia has been at the forefront of research since 2006.

There are also many private companies racing to capitalize on the many qualities of the "wonder material". I suspect the IPO space will start filling up with these as early as next year. While we wait for that to happen I like companies positioned to supply top quality graphite which is most prized in the production of graphene. These would be akin to acquiring the "picks and shovels" suppliers of the Klondike gold rush.

My top pick is Graftech International (GTI) a Global graphite player based in the USA with over 125 years in the business. Graftech is a leading supplier of carbon and graphite products for industry and is well positioned to take advantage of it's economy of scale as it enters the graphene market. Since 2011, Graftech Stock, as shown in the chart, has been in decline, but not the company itself as it is poised to benefit most from the infant graphene market.

Graftech is a leader in the field of graphite production, and will continue to be. The double bottom shown in the chart indicates a turn around in the stock price. We bought this stock last month.

Grafoid, a privately held research and development company is quietly positioning itself as a liaison between the graphite mines, the scientific research groups, and graphene user companies. Although it is a private company at present, it is 40% owned by a small Canadian graphite miner, Focus Graphite, which trades on the Canadian Venture Exchange and recently announced the first "trade-marked" graphene called "MesoGraf". Although it is only (for now) a penny stock traded on the Canadian Venture Exchange (FMS), Focus Graphite also owns three (3) of the top "high grade" graphite properties on the planet most suitable for graphene production.

Privately held Angstron Materials (owned by Nanotek Instruments and based in Ohio, USA) is developing and producing nano graphene platelets (NGPs), and also provide pristine graphite and single layer graphene. (Look for an IPO as this company grows up)

There are also many small labs and companies such as Anderlab Technologies of Mumbai India, which manufactures graphene and carbon nanotubes for research.

Flinders Resources which is positioned to supply Europe with top quality graphite from its proven Woxna mine in Sweden, just made it's first shipment of raw material to Germany last week. It is also listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange, along with Northern Graphite, Zenyatta Ventures and Lomiko Metals, all of which show promise in the field.

Remember that, investing in penny stocks is not for the faint of heart.  Having said that, some of these companies are sure to be big winners as the graphene boom takes hold!

The Graphene revolution

Graphene from Graphite

Article:  Focus Graphite