Graphite features

• December 2015

  Graphite: Year in Review 2015

  21 December 2015

  A roundup of the year's main events in the global graphite industry.

• November 2015

  Graphite exploration – the importance of planning

  30 November 2015

  Graphite has become the focus for dozens of exploration companies since the mineral’s investment boom of 2011-2012. Andrew Scogings, Industrial Minerals Consultant, looks at the different exploration and testing methods and reporting conventions used by the graphite industry.

• The black parade: Graphite companies continue to put on a show

  30 November 2015

  Tanking stock values, falling prices and exasperation with the slow growth of new markets are just some of the litany of difficulties facing the graphite sector, whose junior companies were once the pick of the small cap investment world. Laura Syrett, Acting Editor, takes a look at the industry and examines what schools of thought are informing its decisions.

• Which materials are “critical” and which are “strategic”?

  30 November 2015

  The terms “critical” and “strategic” used to describe the importance of various minerals and metals to different countries and organisations are often applied without definition or context. George J Simandl, Carlee Akam and Suzanne Paradis outline the case for appropriate use of these terms to avoid misunderstandings and misrepresentations.

• China’s slowdown leaves graphite industry with unshakable hangover

  30 November 2015

  Falling consumption of graphite in China as a result of weaker demand for steel, cement and glass refractories – which continue to represent the largest end markets for the mineral – looks set to ensure the sector remains on a downward trend until growth from batteries can take up the slack, IM Analyst, Shruti Salwan, discovers.