I think the graphene has taken a bit of a back seat going from the announcements. It looks like the company has taken the direction down the graphitic carbon route. Specifically the battery and lubricity markets - have featured heavily in past announcements. - from 10/12/18 announcement "Independent test results of Hazer graphite's suitability for use in two major commercial applications (Li-ion battery anodes & dry lubricants) have demonstrated promising initial results."
From an economic standpoint the battery route is the obvious way to go; very large established market that is consistently growing thanks to the Asian markets demands for EVs etc. Especially due to the minimal steps required to prepare Hazer's synthetic graphite - has been mentioned in the investor presentations ("standard purification techniques", and the purity of the graphite coming out of the reactor).
The graphene market could also prove very hard to enter. I can imagine the purification costs would be much higher than what Hazer has stated as standard purification of their battery grade graphite. It might just come down to economics, at this point in time it's not feasible to chase that tail with minimal capital and an already spread thin team.
Re: MinRes Plant, the photos from the March announcement and presentation have the equipment on site with pipes connected - very good sign. If the PPP is anything to go off commissioning will have taken around 4 months from construction. PPP commissioning was from 21/3/17 to 6/7/17 from the announcements. Going off this timeline it should be up and running pretty soon.
Re: PanAM and Primetals, can only speculate on these. I'd say management would avoid many overlapping partnerships - underlying theme in what people have heard from CEO. Would not be surprised if the terms in the partnership with MinRes would mean complications in further partnerships with the aforementioned or other suitors that have shown interest. Basically partnerships at this level will make or break the company - step in this most recent MOU with WaterCorp.
This is very good news for Hazer. A JV/ partnership for a demo-plant that will likely qualify for ARENA funding, where Hazer explicitly owns the plant, is one of the safest options for the company. Minimal shared IP that could further complicate finding partners/ buyers is a win. It also puts Hazer on the radar, as having received ARENA funding - think of the publicity (something that has been a sore-point for most of HC on Hazer). As other users have stated, imagine having a small Hazer reactor at these waste plants throughout Australia - would be reminiscent of China's W2E plants.
Going from the last paragraph of the announcement "discussions with potential hydrogen offtake partners and project funders are continuing..." - read into this what you will, but to me this smells like ARENA funding.
HZR Price at posting:
29.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)