Ann: December 2015 Quarterly Activities Report and Appendix 5B, page-32

"the plant was never anywhere near operating to capacity or spec"

I can't see evidence for that claim ausheds
14,000 TPA was the output before mothballing
production graphite grades were up to 96%
customer product specifications are 90%-96%
The situation does not seem as dire as you are suggesting except that:

It seems the basic process was close to right but on a limited scale, that would have increased the COP somewhat
but if customers were queuing as you say and they had graphite to customer specs, why didn't they sell?

http://www.valenceindustries.com/pd...Activities_Report_and_Appendix_5B-1492330.pdf