TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 13, 2021 / Gratomic Inc. ("GRAT," "Gratomic" or the "Company") (TSXV:GRAT)(OTCQX:CBULF)(FRANKFURT:CB82) is pleased to provide an update to stakeholders on the commissioning progress at its flagship Aukam Graphite Project in Namibia. With commissioning underway as of March 29, the Company continues to reach and surpass vital milestones on the path to a fully operational processing facility.
On Thursday, April 8th, the Company lifted into position the filter press and rotary dryer, which brings to completion the equipment assembly phase and brings the project into the C1 (pre-commissioning) stage for this section of the plant, propelling the Company towards final commissioning of its processing plant.
Following the fitting of the filter press and dryer, Gratomic's on-site team will now begin working on the critical dewatering circuit, complementing previously completed construction with additional civil and framing work on the newly refurbished material thickener.
Local South African firms Metalla Tutum, in partnership with Zimpro Engineering, have started modifying and conditioning the material thickener, to optimize its function as a critical piece of the dewatering circuit. The dewatering circuit has been designed to recycle approximately 95% of the processed water.
With commissioning underway, the process to project completion is usually divided into the following five stages:
C1 - Pre-commissioning
C2 - Direction Testing
C3 - No Load / Dry Commissioning
C4 - Load / Wet Commissioning
C5 - Project Completion
Depiction of the custom rotary dryer being lifted into place
Depiction of filter press being lifted into place
"Seeing the processing plant come together in real time really puts into perspective the speed at which the Aukam project is coming together. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Gratomic staff for keeping this project on time and on budget," said Arno Brand, CEO and President.
"Every step of the commissioning process is vital to ensure we continue on the right path to become a lead player in the Graphite business, fulfilling the expectations of our shareholders and other stakeholders," said Armando Farhate, COO & Head of Graphite Market and Sales.
Gratomic wishes to emphasize that no Preliminary Economic Analysis ("PEA"), Preliminary Feasibility Study or Feasibility Study has been completed to support any level of production. In fact, no mineral resources let alone mineral reserves demonstrating economic viability and technical feasibility, have been delineated on the Aukam property.
The Company is working towards completing a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the Aukam Processing plant. The study, its recommendations, and their subsequent implementation, will provide conclusions and recommendation at a PEA level of comfort relating to the scale up of the existing processing plant to a commercial scale processing facility capable of producing the desired concentrate grades and production rates. A preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.
Gratomic wishes to emphasize that the supply of graphite is conditional on Gratomic being able to bring the Aukam project into a production phase, and for any graphite being produced to meet certain technical and mineralization requirements. Gratomic continues to move its business towards production and as part of its business plan, expects to file a National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects technical report to help it ascertain the economics of the Aukam project.
Risk Factors
No mineral resources, let alone mineral reserves demonstrating economic viability and technical feasibility, have been delineated on the Aukam Property. The Company is not in a position to demonstrate or disclose any capital and/or operating costs that may be associated with the processing plant.
The Company advises that it has not based its production decision on even the existence of mineral resources let alone on a feasibility study of mineral reserves, demonstrating economic and technical viability, and, as a result, there may be an increased uncertainty of achieving any particular level of recovery of minerals or the cost of such recovery, including increased risks associated with developing a commercially mineable deposit.
Historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic and technical failure. There is no guarantee that production will begin as anticipated or at all or that anticipated production costs will be achieved.
Failure to commence production would have a material adverse impact on the Company's ability to generate revenue and cash flow to fund operations. Failure to achieve the anticipated production costs would have a material adverse impact on the Company's cash flow and future profitability.
Steve Gray, P. Geo. and a Director of the Company has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release and is the Company's "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Gratomic Inc.
Established in 2014, Gratomic is focused on introducing carbon-neutral, eco-friendly, high purity vein graphite to the global Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage supply chains. Gratomic is anticipating full operational capabilities in 2021.
Gratomic is in the process of solidifying its plans for the micronization, spheronization, and coating of its Aukam vein graphite. This significant milestone is a small, additional step in the Company's proposed eco-friendly processing cycle and is intended to allow it to meet ideal battery grade standards for use in Li-ion battery anodes. The Company's recent collaboration agreement with Forge Nano has advanced developments on its graphite finalization phase.
Forge Nano is a global leader in surface engineering and precision nano-coating technology, using Atomic Layer Deposition. Forge Nano's proprietary technology and manufacturing processes make angstrom-thick coatings fast, affordable, and commercially viable for a wide range of materials, applications, and industries. Forge Nano's suite of ALD and PALD products and services covers the full spectrum from lab-scale tools to commercial-scale manufacturing systems.
GRAT plans to deliver mine-to-market traceability and guaranteed quality control. This will be accomplished by providing documented tracking on all graphite generated at its flagship Aukam Graphite Project. The tracking will begin at Aukam and will be verified at every stage during transport.
Two off-take purchase agreements are currently held for lump-vein graphite sourced from Gratomic's Aukam Graphite Project in Namibia, Africa. Fulfillment of the contracts is anticipated to begin in 2021. The agreements exist with TODAQ and Phu Sumika.
TODAQ is an innovative deeptech company that can containerize assets, transactions & markets, and will partner with Gratomic on its mine-to-market commodity tracking and trading. Containerized assets are verifiably unique, keep an immutable record of who has owned them, have embedded smart logic, can be transferred P2P, and are interoperable with any system. Asset owners enjoy stronger ownership control, value retention when trading, and ability to prove authenticity in seconds.
Phu Sumika is a large global graphite supplier to battery and lubrication companies.
Gratomic Inc. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GRAT, on the OTCQX under the symbol CBULF and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol CB82.
For more information: visit the website at www.gratomic.ca or contact:
Arno Brand at abrand@gratomic.ca or 416 561-4095
Subscribe at gratomic.ca/contact/ to be added to our email list.
"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."
Forward Looking Statements:
This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com)
SOURCE: Gratomic Inc.
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