Grafoid - Page 2

Grafoid has announced the formalization of a strategic green energy business alliance branded as the 2GL Platform. The collaborative agreement pioneers the unification of the development of materials, technologies and processes for next generation energy applications under a shared vision and direction.

This business alliance involves collaboration between Grafoid, Focus Graphite, Stria Lithium (a junior mining exploration company with an expanding technology focus in lithium metal and foil) and Braille Battery (a leading manufacturer and seller of ultra-lightweight high performance AGM and lithium-ion batteries).

Grafoid has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Xiamen Tungsten of Xiamen, China, for the establishment of a strategic joint venture partnership. The agreement establishes terms for Xiamen's acquisition of up to a 20% equity position in Grafoid through the purchase of common shares - including Grafoid common shares currently held by Grafoid's affiliate, Focus Graphite, an advanced Canadian graphite mining exploration and development company.

Focus Graphite currently holds 7.9 million Grafoid shares, and according to the MOU Xiamen can purchase up to 7 million shares from Grafoid. Seems like Focus Graphite does not want to remain a major shareholder in Grafoid - although the two companies are still linked by a 10-year offtake agreement.

The Canadian Grafoid, along with NAATBatt International from the United States and Phantoms Foundation of Spain, have announced the launch of GO Foundation (Graphene Organization Foundation), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting graphene innovation and commercialization.

GO Foundation supports start-up graphene entrepreneurs, scientific innovators and small and medium enterprises engaged in materials and product development. The foundation's aim is to assist entrepreneurs in bringing their inventions to market. It accelerates the pace of adoption by businesses of materials and products enhanced with graphene; offers a neutral collaborative environment to develop strategies and initiatives, and offers a clustering approach to define graphene supply chains to speed the adoption of graphene in advanced materials and manufacturing.

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 Canadian Grafoid announced the acquisition of analytical services provider MuAnalysis Inc., of Ontario, Canada. MuAnalysis provides analytical expertise and solutions to the electronics, photonics, life sciences, and manufacturing industries and offers expertise in electron microscopy, optical microscopy, materials and failure analysis techniques, and reliability testing to its global customers.

Grafoid representatives stated that the acquisition of MuAnalysis is an important addition to Grafoid, since quality control and quality assurance are paramount in delivering the company's manufactured materials and products, especially now that is has advanced to an automated Mesografâ„¢ graphene mass production system. MuAnalysis is to supply the nanotechnology analytical services that support product innovation and accelerate graphene application development capabilities.

This fascinating video about graphene and its potential for implementation in various applications (as well as Grafoid's Mesograf) was made by Grafoid. Enjoy!

The Canadian Grafoid aims to purchase the Germany-based Ames Rubber Corp. by June 30th. Ames Rubber specializes in elastomeric materials and processes, holds numerous patents and has customers in office automation, aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, and other industrial sectors.  

Grafoid representative says that the purpose in acquiring Ames is to broaden the company's opportunities by bringing its Mesograf graphene materials into an established, high-value market through a diverse range of elastomeric materials, working with an experienced team of engineers and scientists. Grafoid also states that Ames might be its springboard into the $700 billion rubber and plastics market.

The Canadian Grafoid received a $8.1 million CAD ($6.46 USD) grant from the Minister of Natural Resources and Minister Responsible for Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to automate Grafoid's production of its low-cost, high-purity MesoGraf graphene.

This grant is meant to assist in designing and testing the automation system for the production of constant quality MesoGraf. Further, the grant enables the testing of pre-commercial products using MesoGraf graphene from the automated system.

Grafoid announced that it acquired Braille Battery, a developer and manufacturer of advanced lightweight Li-Ion batteries for the automotive market. Grafoid is looking for Braille to incorporate the company's graphene MesoGraf materials in their batteries to enhance the performance of those batteries.

Grafoid actually acquired 75% of the shares in Braille (the rest is owned by the company's founder), which will remain as president and COO. Braille is focused on the Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar markets, but they aim to also enter the medical, military and marine sectors.

Following Grafoid's ALCERECO acquisition (for $1.25 million CAD) a couple of months ago, the company will inaugurate its new R&D facility in Kingston, Ontario (ALCERECO's production site) later this week.

When Grafoid announced the acquisition of the advanced material developer, they said they hope to use ALCERECO's production facility and convert it to MesoGraf graphene production. Grafoid will use graphene ores from Focus Graphite's Lac-Knife mine and exfoliate them to graphene materials.