from what i understand ZEN will be ready to sign non disclosure agreements with the very numerous parties requesting samples once the entities they currently have doing more independent testing on purity, metallurgy, and the specific properties of their graphite report back to ZEN.
i'm also pretty sure that they already have most of the info they need from Lakehead University and Dr Conly's team who have been working with samples of ZEN's graphite for over a year and a half. this is my read of the situation after many conversations with the company. they have not stated this to me directly. they don't even come close to giving out any inside info at any time during my conversations with them. i just ask general questions, suggest ideas and concepts to them based on my own educational background and experience in trading junior mining explo stocks over the past 12 years, and gauge the feedback.
here's the link to that team...
geology.lakeheadu.ca
they had that team analyzing and testing their graphite for several months before they felt comfortable enough to come out with a news release, early last year, stating that they had hydrothermal vein/lump type graphite, similar to the graphite that has been mined in Sri Lanka for well over a century.
ZEN is funding a graduate research program at that university, in Thunder Bay, under the guidance of Dr Conly. There is also an electrical engineering faculty at that facility that can provide expertise with respect to the electrical properties of the graphite.
i think getting independent testing done to exactly identify the upper bounds of purity, the electrical/thermal/physical properties, and of course the metallurgy done before they send out samples to the various commercial and educational entities, that have requested samples, is a smart move, and to date, imo, all their moves have been very wise and forward looking.
i am impressed with their desire to use very reputable organizations in this testing process, to ensure that no one can question the results. look at the quality of organizations they have contracted to do the drill core assaying, the purity testing and the initial 43-101 resource report. ALS Chemex, SGS Lakefield and RPA (formerly Roscoe Postle and Associates).
what i read into the hiring of top notch service firms like these is that ZEN is very confident that they know what they have, they are aware that they have many critics (even if those critics like Mickey Fulp, James West and the flake stock exec teams, are biased by their own situations), they have nothing to hide and they are going to great lengths to ensure that the test results cannot be questioned.
i spoke to the company last year when the purity testing results were taking so long and asked if they would consider sending samples to another lab other than SGS. the response was immediate in that SGS is the go to lab for this kind of testing and no one will be able to question the results, so we are willing to wait.
i've spoken with a large number of executives and CEO's of junior miners in the past 12 years, and none have impressed me as much as this team. there's no hype, no inside info, no big promises just calm, confident and grounded discussions as they continue to execute their plan.
you wrote: "Redarding ZEN deposits? The discovery on the west pipe was described as flakes within a hydrothermal Sri-Lanka type deposit. This makes it even more confusing. Is the west pipe different than the east pipe?"
no there is no difference in the ore in the west pipe than that of the east pipe. they've looked at the ore from both pipes under the microscope and had ore from both pipes tested and there is no difference. the grades of course will vary from hole to hole within both pipes. they are pretty sure that the two pipes have one source and that the host rock is the same for both pipes.
it's my understanding that their hydrothermal does come in flake format as does the ore from Sri Lanka and Borrowdale, but the microscopic particles comprising the flakes are isotropic and naturally spherical. this is no reason to confuse it with sedimentary flake deposits. again just my understanding and i believe that of hoov as well. his technical skills and experience are greater than mine in this scenario, so i will defer to him if he wishes to comment.
what i can state with confidence is that there are far fewer deleterious impurities in ZEN's graphite than Sri Lankan graphite, and ZEN, in fact, has an opportunity to gain significant by product credits for their easily removable "impurities" (feldspar and silica). so since both Sri Lankan graphite and ZEN's graphite have been cooked by mother nature at volcanic temperatures and pressures, and ZEN can attain consistently higher purity levels than the variable ore in Sri Lanka deposits, I am expecting to see very positive results from the on going testing.
from my reading of detailed technical reports on Sri Lankan hydrothermal graphite deposits early last year and subsequent readings of more recent reports, it seems that the impurities are difficult to remove from Sri Lankan graphite as they are intercalated between the molecules of that graphite and since graphite is so heat resistant, it is difficult to remove those impurities. also it should be noted that the graphitic ore is higher grade towards the interior of those tiny veins. it was postulated in more than one paper that the edges of the veins reacted with the surrounding rock to dilute the grade at the boundaries of the graphite and surrounding ore.
this is yet another reason that i favor the ZEN ore as a viable commercial end product over that of Sri Lanka.
hope this helps, and i'm very open to any comments or corrections, as this is just all my opinion based on some facts and some intuitive/speculative analysis.
yes i agree far more complex than the gold market, but then again, and for now, the potential profit margins are far greater. |
