OTTAWA, Nov. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Focus Graphite Inc. (FMS: TSX-V; OTCQX: FCSMF; FSE: FKC) (“Focus” or the “Company”) introduces its roadmap for refining BioMedical Grade Graphite to supply Grafoid’s product line of BioMedical Applications. Already an established source of high grade graphite, suitable for use in BioMedicine, Focus Graphite is also excited by the potential of its Rare Earth projects –such as the Kwyjibo Rare Earth Element (“REE”) Project (“Kwyjibo”) – which increases the range of materials that Focus may have the ability supply in the future.
Within biomedicine, powerful imaging techniques from the single molecule to the whole organism directly impact the fundamental science or diagnosis. However, existing methods tend to be limited by the optical properties of the available probes. This has motivated a growing interest in leveraging nanoparticles for imaging – such as dye-doped silica particles, quantum dots, nanodiamonds or metallic nanoparticles.
A highly active area of this research is focusing on the development of rare-earth based nanoparticles where optical properties and low cytotoxicity are promising for biological applications. Rare-earth based nanoparticles offer a range of attractive properties which include high photostability, absence of blinking, extremely narrow emission lines, large stokes shifts, long lifetimes that can be exploited for retarded detection schemes, and facile functionalization strategies. With such a broad range of potential benefits, REEs offer a great deal of potential for reshaping imaging in biomedicine.
With this rapidly expanding demand for rare-earth based nanoparticles and high grade graphite across the BioMedical spectrum, Focus Graphite is actively refining its roadmap for supplying BioMedical grade material for Grafoid’s product pipeline. A pipeline closing in on commercialization and recently bolstered by the addition of Dr. Shannon to Grafoid’s advisory board. Dr. Shannon brings extensive experience, insight and guidance on Grafoid’s portfolio of bio-medical applications and systems. Having received a medical degree from Queen’s University in Canada, which included advanced training in surgery and sports medicine, Dr. Shannon also holds post-graduate degrees in neurochemistry and physiology. He has been actively engaged in applied medical research within these areas for over 27 years.
“As innovative partners – such as Grafoid – seed their pipelines for the launch of BioMedical applications and systems– the clear advantage will be with those with access to the most reliable supplies of high-grade source materials, such as Graphite and REEs,” said Gary Economo, CEO of Focus Graphite, “and, as an established supplier of high-grade graphite, and an early partner of Grafoid, we believe this synergistic relationship could represent real world potential for shaping the BioMedicine of tomorrow.”
About Focus Graphite
Focus Graphite Inc. is an advanced exploration and mining company with an objective of producing graphite concentrate at its wholly owned Lac Knife flake graphite deposit located 27 km south of Fermont, Québec. In a second stage, to meet Quebec stakeholder interests of transformation within the province and to add shareholder value. Focus is evaluating the feasibility of producing value added graphite products including battery-grade spherical graphite.
Focus Graphite is a technology-oriented graphite mining development company with a vision for building long-term, sustainable shareholder value. Focus also holds a significant equity position in graphene applications developer Grafoid Inc.
For more information about Focus Graphite, please visit www.focusgraphite.com
About Grafoid.
Founded in 2011, Grafoid Inc. is a graphene research, development and investment company that invests in, manages and develops markets for processes that produce economically scalable graphene for use in graphene development applications by leading corporations and institutions. Grafoid’s leading investment produces application friendly, minimal-defect, high-energy density few layer graphene, utilizing a safe, non-destructive extraction process, leaving the lowest possible ecological footprint. The completely unique, proprietary process results in what Grafoid regards as a new global standard for economically scalable, high-purity graphene products — trademarked under the MesoGraf™ trade name — that can be tailored to both industrial and commercial applications.
Contact:
Focus Graphite Inc.
Mr. Gary Economo
Chief Executive Officer
+1-613-241-4040
geconomo@focusgraphite.com
www.focusgraphite.com