First Graphene’s PureGraph Makes Impact in Mining Industry

First Graphene (ASX:FGR) announced on Thursday (October 25) that its PureGraph product has successfully demonstrated its advantages in the mining industry.

The company said that the product tested on a high volume mining application established that the wear life of mining equipment can be extended thanks to PureGraph’s addition into protective polymer linings on the machinery.

First Graphene, an advanced materials company, said that a full scale mining reclaimer bucket powered by PureGraph was added for trial purposes at an on-site location.The company explained that PureGraph easily dissolved into the used polymer resin, which is industrial byproduct of a plant resin used to withstand great force and strain.

Testing was done with newGen Group as part of a deal initially announced in June with the intention of developing polyurethane liners for use in mining equipment.

The companies said that equipment in the mining industry is often modified with the installation of these liners to safeguard them from excessive abrasion. However, these liners often have to be regularly replaced.

Back in June, both First Graphene and newGen said they believed the addition of graphene to the liners would reduce the wear. Now, the companies have said that the tests have determined the product provided increased strength to the base equipment.

“We are pleased to be at the forefront of graphene use in mining materials,” Ben Walker, MD of newGen, said in Thursday’s release. “It has been excellent to work with the calibre of people at First Graphene in this march towards supplying our valued clients with ground breaking, high performance materials.”

According to newGen, it has now cast a liner for a Sandvik reclaimer bucket using PureGraph. The company said that there are 12 buckets, each with a capacity of 2.2 cubic meters per hour. These are on the wheel for the machine that these buckets are intended to be used on.

Furthermore, newGen said that the reclaimer has a nominal machine capacity of 12,000 tonnes per hour (tph) with a maximum capacity of 14,500 tph in bauxite.

Craig McGuckin, managing director of First Graphene in the release praised the newGen team for the creation of the bucket liner.

First Graphene said that the success of the graphene enhanced bucket liners will open additional growth prospects for graphene enhanced rubbers and composites.

Following the announcement, shares of First Graphene were up 12 percent to close the trading session on Thursday at AU$0.14. The stock has a “Sell” ranking on TradingView with 14 verticals against, nine in neutral and three in favor.

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