Ann: Appendix 3B-MNS.AX, page-75

Michael, Hazer is really in the hydrogen business. The graphite produced, as a by-product, has significant limitations for some applications. The grade is quoted as "90%+", which is not anything to write home about, but the flake size is not mentioned in any material I have located. More serious, the catalyst used for the decomposition of the methane is iron ore - essentially, iron oxide, with a bit of silica. And that is not removed at the end of the process, but left in the graphite. It appears that physical removal of the iron oxide and silica (say, by flotation) is difficult, because the iron ore particles are stuck in the middle of the graphite grains. For some applications this is not a problem, but for higher-purity requirements, it is a real issue. We have to use chemical methods, which will require a lot of acid, far more than most graphite miners.

Maybe the Hazer guys have found a way around this. If so, they do not appear to have published it as yet, so we can only go on what is known at the moment. Based on what we know now, Hazer are not a serious contender in the graphite business, whether carbon-negative or not.

Cheers,

Prime1