The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster killed the dreams of many an Australian uranium explorer.
One of those, Uranex, has survived by changing commodities.
It went back and kicked the dirt again on its tenements in Tanzania and discovered another resource there: graphite.
In 2012 a stubbornly weak uranium price and a 200 per cent rent hike by the Tanzanian government spurred it into action.
Tanzania is better known for cashew nuts and one of the better African countries in which to do business.
That two-year journey culminated in it recently declaring its first metallurgical tests a success and announcing that the site can support a world class graphite mine.
It will launch an expected $10 million capital raising in coming days to fund more work to prove the resource.
"We see graphite as a sexy metal that has large growth factors going forward," chief executive Rod Chittenden said.
"There was a question mark hanging over the company before these metallurgical results."
Graphite is in demand because it is a necessary component in rechargeable lithium ion batteries.
An eventual predicted take-up of electric cars would spur even more demand - nearly 40kg of graphite is used in each of those batteries.
Graphite has been used in batteries for decades because it is an electrical conductor, but the technological explosion in smart phones and other portable devices has sent demand soaring.
Uranex would be in production by 2017 in a best case scenario producing 100,000 tonnes of graphite a year at its Nachu site.
That would make it a serious player, adding 6-7 per cent of supply to the 1.5 million tonne a year global market.
Mr Chittenden is not worried about over-supply, talking up a potential doubling of the market to 2.5 million to 3.0 million tonnes a year from 2016 onwards as demand rises more.
China's current 70-80 per cent dominance of global production is receding too and creating supply gaps, as the government shuts down lower grade mines due to environmental and water issues caused by its use of hydrofluoric acid.
"China will actually be a net importer of graphite in 2014," he said, due to the fact the Chinese also make the batteries used by companies such as LG and Samsung.
Beyond that Uranex need an offtake partner to help fund what they estimate would be an $80 million plant.
Australian share market darling Syrah Resources recently struck a deal with Chinese giant Chinalco to supply it 80,000 to 100,000 tonnes of graphite a year from its planned 220,000 tonnes of production.
Syrah's Balama project in Mozambique is rated one of the top two graphite deposits in the world and its market value has jumped from $10 million to a current $606 million since securing the resource in 2011.
Uranex is only currently valued at $33 million.
Director Frank Poullas said he is more interested in a Japanese or Korean partner and the company is already getting knocks on the door now that it has metallurgical numbers to sell to people.
He also feels a bit more empowered about a name change away from `Uranex', now that graphite rather than uranium is the main game.
(20min delay)