Graphene has emerged as a new battlefront for the graphite
industry's juniors.
While graphene has enjoyed global publicity over the last 18
months, it is still very much a market in its infancy leaving
some to question its relevance to the natural graphite mining
industry.
The school of thought from long established producers of
graphite is that, at best, the materials bearing on the
natural graphite industry is being over-hyped. This pessimism
hasnt, however, dampened excitement among the
graphite juniors pursuing graphene; instead, they see it
as a rare opportunity to be part of a globally transformative
industry.
This week saw the most recent announcement from Mason Graphite,
which is to acquire 40% of NanoXplore Inc. in what is the
fourth deal to tie a flake graphite developer to a graphene
one.
This adds to Focus Graphites deal with Grafoid Inc. in
2011 (the first of its kind in the graphite space), Northern
Graphites 2012 supply and patent agreement with Grafen
Chemical Industries, and Lomiko Metals partnership with
Graphene Laboratories which was announced in early
2013.
These companies are pursuing processing routes based on
exfoliation in essence stripping layers of graphene away
from flakes of graphite. This technique is going head-to-head
with the chemical exfoliation and chemical vapour deposition
techniques, neither of which require natural graphite.
In terms of graphite volumes, graphenes impact will
almost certainly be minimal. The very principal behind the
mechanical exfoliation process means little flake graphite is
needed to produce graphene, a point which breeds cynicism among
the established order who see greater potential in the battery
sector due to its potential for explosive volume
growth.
Nevertheless, shifting volumes of graphite into the graphene
industry has never been the primary goal for this side of the
industry. Developing a value-added business model that is
attractive to investors is the aim.
The biggest impact on the graphite industry is likely to come
from the investment in processing innovation, which will
certainly be needed if the sector is to create a marketable
graphene product.
For many years now, the graphite industry has lacked the
technological processing infrastructure to develop new
value-added products in an economical way. To take graphene
theory from laboratory to market reality is the biggest
challenge facing the industry today.
Graphene set to be separate from graphite
Cultivating a completely new line of end-markets is something
which the industry has not had to do in modern times. It
requires a creative and optimistic outlook, a belief that
customers will want to use graphene, and the willingness to
lead and take that risk.
The direction the industry takes hinges upon identifying a
commercially viable end product that will be adopted by the
market. While graphene in theory has endless applications, the
reality is that finding users willing to take the risk of
adopting an entirely new material is a difficult
task.
That being said, it is unlikely that the majority of graphite
miners or processors will ever want to enter the graphene race.
Many will feel it is too big a departure from their core
industrial businesses of refractories, foundries, lubricants
and, to some extent, batteries. It would also take significant
R&D investment to compete with the public and private
companies that are already established, many of which are
leading university spin-offs.
Therefore expect to see the rise of a new style of company, a
carbon nano-tech company that may use small volumes of flake
graphite but wont share strong ties with the mining
industry. As a result, also expect the focus of natural
graphite producers to be fixed on refractories and batteries
while graphenes pioneers attempt to create a new
industrial paradigm.
On the flipside, do not underestimate the fear of missing out.
This could force one or two of biggest graphite companies into
action. Watch this space.
Graphite company
|
Graphene company
|
Year
|
Deal
|
Focus Graphite Inc
|
Grafoid Inc
|
2012
|
> Exclusive supply agreement
|
Northern Graphite
|
Grafen Chemical Industries
|
2012
|
> Supply agreement
> 50% ownership of North American
patents
|
Lomiko Metals
|
Graphene Laboratories
|
2013
|
> Supply agreement
> Co-operation to develop value added
graphite-to-graphene products
|
Mason Graphite
|
NanoXplore Inc
|
2014
|
> 40% ownership of NanoXplore
|