Caribou King, Ortech to Develop Graphite-to-Graphene Technology

Caribou King Resources (TSXV:CKR) began the week on a high note, this morning announcing that talks with its technical advisors have inspired it to jointly develop “technologies related to the production of commercial quality and economic graphene product” with Process Research Ortech. Ultimately, Caribou’s goal is to put in place a vertically integrated supply chain for any graphite its properties may produce.

The arrangement will see Caribou pay Oretech $120,000 to complete preliminary research on a process to develop graphene from high-grade graphite; that fee will also cover a first-phase bench test of the process. At that point, Caribou has two options:

• Terminate the arrangement for a $25,000 fee.
  
• Pay Oretech a further $250,000 to complete a second-phase bench test and then another $2.5 million to build a pilot plant to test the process.

If Caribou chooses the second option, it will then own “49.0% of the technology underlying the process.” After the pilot plant has operated for six consecutive months, the company will have “the option, but not the requirement” to buy Oretech’s interest in it for $15 million.

Commenting positively on the news, Mike England, CEO of Caribou King, said, “[t]he unprecedented thermal and chemical properties, as well as the stability of graphene chemically, make it an implicitly disruptive technology for energy and electronic utilization. Our excellent stable of graphite projects will allow Caribou to become a vertically integrated graphite-graphene company with the help of Ortech.”

That stable is made up of seven graphite properties, all of which are located in either Ontario or Quebec. However, two in particular — Montpellier and TAC — were included in the rationale for starting up graphene technology development. Here’s a little information about them:

• Montpellier: located in Ontario, Montpellier covers 359 contiguous hectares. Its main graphite zone is about 15 meters wide and “was traced by means of trenching and drilling for more than 250 meters along strike,” as per Caribou’s website. Two further graphite zones are located 575 meters east of that zone. 
• TAC: at TAC, graphite occurs locally “as flakes up to 1cm in diameter but typically varying from 0.5mm to 5mm in diameter,” according to Quebec government reports. Graphite exposed during road repair includes a “massive graphite zone exposed over roughly one square meter at surface.”

Historical drilling was completed at both properties during the 1980s.

No word yet on how long it will take Ortech to complete its research and the first-phase bench test. However, Caribou recently began a drill program at its Mulloy graphite project, located about 10 kilometers from Zenyatta Ventures‘ (TSXV:ZEN) Albany discovery, so news regarding that project may be forthcoming.

At close of day Monday, shares of Caribou were selling for $0.05 each, up 11.11 percent.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 

Editorial Disclosure: Caribou King Resources is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.