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Ortech announced that it was contracted by Caribou King (a Canadian miner company) to develop and test a process to produce graphene from high-grade graphite. Ortech has years of experience in the graphite industry and the company says they have technical expertise in developing metallurgical solutions for high purity mineral products and nanomaterials.

Ortech will be paid $120,000 (CAD) for a preliminary research and a first phase bench test of the process. Caribou may then proceed to the second phase bench test of the process and this will cost an additional $250,000. If all goes well, Ortech offers to construct a pilot plant to test the process for $2.5 million. If the plans go well, Caribou will own 49.0% of the technology underlying the process.

Lomiko Metals announced that it has successfully completed its previously announced public offering. The company sold shares and warrants worth $5,520,800 (CAD, or almost $5 million USD) in the public offering.

Lomiko will use this money primarily for the exploration program on the Quatre-Milles East and West mineral properties (in Quebec), for business development and for working capital and general corporate purposes. Lomiko is also involved in several graphene related initiatives, together with Graphene Labs. On November 22, 2013 Lomiko and Graphene Labs announced the formation of Graphene 3D Lab to focus on the development of high-performance graphene-enhanced materials for 3D Printing.

UK's GS International (GSI) says that they have been chosen to be the graphite supplier for Norway's Graphene Batteries, a startup that develops graphene-based Li-Ion battery electrodes.

Graphene Batteries reportedly tested over 50 types of graphite before choosing GSI's graphite. GSI is offering high quality natural graphite at $16,000 per ton. GS International, together with the RS Group also aims to become a research partner to Graphene Batteries. The GS Group and GSI also plans to scale-up Graphene Oxide production soon.

Tagla Resources (an Australian-based graphite, iron and gold miner with prospects in Western Australia and Sweden) and the University of Adelaide have been studying graphite ore from Tagla's wholly-owned Nunasvaara deposit in Sweden. Tagla says that the have made a breakthrough in single-step graphene recovery method. This will allow the company to produce both graphite and cheap graphene from this mine by using a single process.

According to Tagla, this process breakthrough would allow the company to use the unprocessed graphite ore and by-pass intermediate stages. Researchers at the University demonstrated that the quality of the produced graphene is comparable to graphene produced synthetically. This new process can be scaled up commercially.

Focus Graphite approved plans to invest $1.5 million CAD (about $1.38 million USD) in Grafoid. Focus Graphite also said that Grafoid recently closed a financing round with Blackwall Capital Markets and a "Friends and Family" private placement. In July 2013 Grafoid raised $3.5 million and I'm not sure if that's the Blackwall deal Focus Graphite refers to.

Grafoid's financing should bring them closer to the construction of their MesoGraf production facilities. Mesograf is Grafoid's graphene-based material announced about 8 months ago. Grafoid collaborates with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and their new spin-off company Graphite Zero on the production, development and marketing of this material.

Canadian graphite mining company Mason Graphite announced that it acquired up to a 40% stake in NanoXplore for $700,000. Mason Graphite will raise the funds from a fully subscribed (by the company's management and a major shareholder) private placement.

NanoXplore is an R&D company that is developing a graphene production method. NanoXplore makes graphene from graphite, and the deal also states that Mason Graphite will become the company's exclusive graphite supplier and also its sales distributor.

Graphene Labs launched a new company called Graphene 3D Labs that will focus on the development of high-performance graphene-enhanced materials for 3D Printing. Lomiko Metals will be the exclusive graphite provider to the new company, and they will also invest $50,000.

This is not the first project to develop such technology. Just last month we reported that American Graphite Technologies (AGT) launched a research project in collaboration with Ukraine's Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology that will develop graphene-based working materials for 3D printing.

Archer Exploration, in collaboration with the University of Adelaide, has produced a wide number of graphene and intercalated graphite products from raw graphite, and from Campoona (Australia) medium-grade graphite concentrates.

Archer announced that University researchers managed to produce graphene oxide sheets, nanosheets, membranes, powders, films, and electrodes. Archers aims to produce high grade to ultra-pure natural flake graphite and manufacture high tech, high-value graphene products.

In April 2013 American Graphite Technologies (AGT) announced it is planning to collaborate with Ukraine's Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology ("KIPT") on graphene-based working materials for 3D printing. AGT announced today that the project (called P600) received final approval from the Science and Technology Centre Ukraine (STCU).

The project aims to develop new nanocarbon contained matter as the working material for 3D printing. The team will use several carbon-based materials, primarily graphene. The project team will consist of 8 scientists and PhDs with experience in the fields of nanotechnology, 3D printing, solid state physics, physical materials and thermal physics.

Graphene Laboratories announced that they have successfully managed to convert Lomiko Metal's Quatre Milles property graphite to graphene. They have actually produced graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) samples. The companies hope that they will be able to create graphene materials on a larger scale and at a reduced price.

In the first step of the conversion process the natural graphite flakes were oxidized and turned into GO by modified Hummer's method. This resulted in a stable aqueous dispersion with concentration of 40 g/L. The GO was then converted into RGO, with a surface area of 500 m² /g and an electrical conductivity 4 S/cm.