Focus Graphite has announced entering into two offtake agreements with Grafoid, a leader in graphene application development. The company stated that the agreements safeguard the security of future revenue for Focus Graphite’s Lac Knife project as well as push forward the commercialization of Grafoid’s Mesograf product applications.
The first agreement (also referred to as the Energy Offtake) commits Grafoid to acquire, at its discretion, up to an annual maximum of 1,000 tonnes of high-purity large flake graphite concentrate annually from the Lac Knife Project for 10 years, representing up to 6.8% of the projected annual production of 14,606 tonnes of high-purity large flake concentrate. The initial terms of the Energy Offtake agreement dictate that Grafoid would pay Focus Graphite C$1 million (around $810, 000) over a 12-month period, with the first payment being on or before September 30, 2015, for the right of first refusal to purchase up to the annual maximum of 1,000 tonnes and would also give Grafoid the first right of refusal to extend and expand the offtake agreement for an additional 10-year period. The pricing for an additional 10-year period will be set at market price less 10%.
The second agreement (the Polymer Offtake) commits Grafoid to acquire, at its discretion, up to 25,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually from the Lac Knife Project for 10 years, representing up to 56.4% of the projected total annual production of 44,300 tonnes (all flake sizes). The initial terms of the Polymer Offtake agreement state that Grafoid would pay Focus Graphite C$1 million (around $810, 000) over a 12-month period, with the first payment being on or before September 30, 2015, for the right of first refusal to purchase up to the annual maximum of 25,000 tonnes of the projected total annual production of all flake size graphite concentrate. Grafoid would also have the first right of refusal to extend the offtake agreement for an additional 10-year period. The pricing for an additional 10-year period will be set at market price less 10%.
Focus Graphite specified that once the Lac Knife Project comes into production, the Energy Offtake is intended to supply Grafoid’s needs for a range of next-generation graphene-based applications. The Polymer Offtake is intended to supply Grafoid’s needs for a range of graphite-based polymer applications for the automotive and aerospace industry. This area of commercial application development holds considerable promise for Grafoid as customers are looking for lighter and stronger composite materials to replace expensive carbon fiber and that ultimately reduce cost, increase fuel savings and build longer life into those components used in transportation industries.