Toronto,Canada, Sept. 11, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA ) has announced their intentions to build a $6 billion dollar lithium-ion battery factory in Nevada capable of producing enough batteries to power 500,000 vehicles every year. According to industry sources, every electric car requires about 100 lbs. of natural flake graphite. With 11 times more graphite in a lithium-ion battery than lithium, electric vehicles represent a significant future off-take demand for flake graphite.
Tesla alone will require six new mines - double the global demand
The Tesla Giga-Plant, at full operation, will require the equivalent of six new, full-scale graphite mines and would consume the entire amount of flake graphite used today for batteries globally.. This represents a doubling of the world's demand for flake graphite for batteries. Presently, the U.S. does not have any producing graphite mines and imports 100% of its graphite and just last year, the U.S., the United Kingdom and the European Union designated graphite as a critical mineral. It's easy to understand why.
Not all graphite is the same
Graphite comes in basically two forms, powder (amorphous) and flake. Powder is the plentiful and cheap form used in pencils, lubricants, and brake pads. Flake graphite is the scarcer form, it commands the highest selling price and is the only form of graphite that can be used in all 180-plus applications we use on a daily basis that depend upon graphite. Flake graphite is the only form of natural graphite that can be used lithium-ion batteries and is used exclusively in new tech applications such as graphite foils, which are used in almost every consumer electronics product you own to cool your electronics. Flake graphite is the requisite mineral behind nearly all advancements in new innovations and nano-technologies. Flake graphite in its single-layer form is the 'wonder-product' graphene, and is the key raw material used in large-scale energy storage systems and pebble-bed nuclear reactors.
In addition to the graphite used in every lithium-ion battery, portable electronics increasingly rely on graphite to cool components and dissipate heat. Very thin sheets of graphite foil, made exclusively from natural graphite flake, line the insides of electronics and act as both a sealant and a heat sink for all laptop computers, tablets, flat panel televisions, solar panel arrays, cellular phones and smartphones. Graphite foil is one of the fastest growing end-use segments for flake graphite.
Where will we get all that graphite?
Enter Energizer Resources' Molo Graphite project - a world-class flake graphite deposit that you have probably never heard of. Energizer Resources Inc. OTCQX: ENZR, is sitting on the proverbial mother lode. It's 100% owned and operated Molo project in Madagascar is one of the largest, most advanced, high-quality flake graphite deposits in the world. Energizer is just weeks away from releasing a bankable feasibility study on the project and is well positioned to have a first-mover advantage in being major supplier of high quality flake graphite to the world.. Energizer is already at the stage where it has entered into advanced discussions regarding off-take and project investment agreements with over 20 of the world's largest flake graphite buyers and end-users in the refractory, lithium-ion battery and consumer electronics industries. Next steps consist of multi-national companies running full-scale, multi-tonne production runs of graphite-based end products using Energizer's graphite. Pending successful test runs, Energizer would be able to secure a "preferred supplier" status for flake graphite with these potential customers.
The Molo
The Molo 100% flake and it is massive. The NI 43-101 resource of 141 million tones has a mine life of over 130 years and its expandability is virtually limitless. The Molo alone represents less than 1% of the total graphite confirmed on Energizer's property. The graphite at the Molo deposit sits immediately at surface, which means very low-cost, open pit mining with no stripping waste. Energizer has partnered with DRA , Africa's largest mine builder and operator, which ensures a turn-key solution when it comes to construction and operation of the future mine. This provides added confidence for both investors and future customers for the timeline of the mine. . The Molo has passed government environmental permitting, and is within easy trucking to two major sea ports serving transportation corridors to the world's highest graphite demand markets: Japan, China, India and South Korea. Production is targeted for mid-2016.
Market Response
Powerhouse Institutions on both Wall Street and Bay Street have now started to pay attention to Energizer Resources Inc. OTCQX: ENZR. Notable investors are JP Morgan, Canada's largest resource investment bank, Dundee Resources, , and mutual fund giant AGF Group. Analysts covering ENZR with buy recommendation include well known Canadian and European institutions GMP Securities and Stormcrow Capital Ltd.
Profitability
Based upon early and robust economic studies, the sheer size and quality of the deposit, as well as manufacture demand for this specific type of high-quality flake graphite, Energizer expects their investor's payback periods to be only three years with very healthy margins. The Molo is easily expandable and can meet market demand as required.
The stars are aligning for Energizer to supply one of the most innovative materials of our time - applicable in everything from electric vehicles to energy storage to safe nuclear applications. Given everything we now know about graphite and its rising status in the world of strategic minerals, Energizer's Molo Graphite Project represents one vital source of supply and is shaping up to be an undeniable opportunity for investors.
To learn more about Energizer and its Molo Graphite Project, visit Energizer Resources (OTCQZ: ENZR) at www.energizerresources.com or call 1.416.364.4911
About Energizer Resources
Energizer Resources is a mineral exploration and mine development company based in Toronto, Canada, that is developing its 100%-owned, flagship Molo Graphite Project in southern Madagascar.
The Molo Graphite Project is one of the largest known crystalline flake graphite deposits in the world. The Molo Project hosts a NI 43-101 compliant indicated mineral resource of 84.04 million tonnes grading 6.36%C and an inferred resource grading 6.29% C of crystalline flake graphite.
Energizer has initiated a Full Feasibility Study, with results to be released to the market by Q4 2014. Results of the Company's recently completed pilot plant operation confirmed that 43.5% of the Molo deposit is classified as the premium-priced large and extra-large flake, with an average purity level in excess of 97%C achieved through standard flotation alone. The Company is targeting production in Q2/Q3 of 2016.
Energizer's total land package in southern Madagascar encompasses approximately 320 kilometres (198 miles) of continuous graphitic trends, where all graphite mineralization is immediately at surface.
In addition to the Molo Graphite Project, Energizer has also identified through drilling, trenching and geological mapping at least six other zones that could be potential stand-alone graphite deposits.
Safe Harbor: This press release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results could differ materially from expectations and projections set out herein.
The National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant technical report, titled "Molo Graphite Project Fotadrevo Province of Toliara, Madagascar Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report Update and dated April 12, 2013, was prepared by DRA Mineral Projects Pty Ltd and authored by John Hancox, Pri.Sc.Nat, Desmond Subramani, Pri.Sc.Nat, Dave Thompson and Glenn Bezuidenhout, all Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101, and independent of Energizer Resources for the purposes of NI 43-101 requirements. The Technical Report is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.energizerresources.com
The above resource estimates were calculated in accordance with NI 43-101 as required by Canadian securities regulatory authorities. For United States reporting purposes, Industry Guide 7 (under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), as interpreted by the Staff of the SEC, applies different standards in order to classify mineralization as a reserve. Among other things, the terms "measured", "indicated" and "inferred" mineral resources are required pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize such terms. Canadian standards differ significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and mineral resource information contained herein is not comparable to similar information regarding mineral reserves disclosed in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. The mineral resource estimates in this press release include inferred resources that are normally considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is also no certainty that the inferred mineral resource will be converted to the measured and indicated mineral resource categories through further drilling, or into a mineral reserve once economic considerations are applied. U.S. investors should understand that "inferred" mineral resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. In addition, investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the Company's mineral resources constitute or will be converted into reserves. Cautionary Statement: Neither TSX Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.