NextSource Materials Up After Japan Okays SuperFlake Trademark

Toronto’s NextSource Materials (TSX:NEXT) surged 75 percent on Tuesday (January 16) after its SuperFlake® trademark got the green light in Japan. 
The registration approval is a key milestone for the junior graphite developer, which now has the exclusive right to use the SuperFlake® trademark on all natural graphite from its Molo project that is sold in the Asian country.
The Madagascar-based asset is a feasibility-stage project with a total combined graphite resource of 141.28 million tonnes at 6.13 percent total graphitic carbon. It also contains ore reserves of 22.44 million tonnes at 7.02 percent graphitic carbon.

According to an updated feasibility study completed in June of last year, the company’s SuperFlake® graphite concentrate can achieve 98 percent carbon purity with simple flotation.
It also has excellent thermal expansion, can be easily upgraded to 99.97 percent purity, which is considered battery grade, and contains no deleterious substances.
Brent Nykoliation, NextSource’s senior vice president, corporate development, told Mining Weekly that the trademark approval bears testament to Molo graphite being an “ideal product” for downstream users, based on the product’s superior carbon purity, flake size distribution and verified downstream industry acceptance across all top demand markets for graphite.
The SuperFlake® trademark has already been registered across the entire European Union, and the company is now awaiting exclusive rights approval in Canada, the US and South Korea, which are top demand markets for flake graphite.
“The timing of our trademark registrations in Europe and Japan coincides well with the company’s planned Phase 1 production, which is targeted for late 2018,” Nykoliation added. 
Phase 1 will consist of a fully operational and sustainable graphite mine, with a permanent processing plant capable of producing about 17,000 tonnes per year of high-quality SuperFlake® graphite concentrate per year over a mine life of 30 years. CAPEX for Phase 1 stands at just $18.4 million.
Meanwhile, Phase 2 at Molo will consist of an expansion to over 51,000 tonnes per year and will be implemented as soon as it is supported by market demand.
On Wednesday (January 17), NextSource’s share price continued to trend upwards, closing up 7.14 percent at C$0.15. The company’s share price has increased over 130 percent year-to-date.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: NextSource Materials is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.