Does MNS offtake change things?, page-68

Not sure what 'study' you are reading corza....but the MNS deposit starts from surface and extents beyond 100m.

The below is not intended to be a cross promotion, but as there have been questions raised on MNS on the SYR forum and indeed this thread title mentions MNS.

As for the 6%, again there does not seem to be an understanding on flake size on the SYR threads. In the MNS deposit you will find that 88% of recoveries are in the large, jumbo and super jumbo flake size categories. To date this is unprecedented in graphite explorers. So by having a lower Cg % is completely offset by the extremely favourable flake size distribution. Sadly this concept escapes most posters on the graphite threads. Some even dismiss it completely. Perhaps these posters should find out a little bit more on what the Chinese (as they are the main producers of graphite related products) are looking for.

Having a zillion tonnes of medium to low size flake is not what the market necessarily wants. This could be why many of the graphite explorers have had trouble so far signing binding off take agreements. These 'producers' of graphite know what they are looking for. The Chinese have masses of reserves in medium to fine flake and are in no rush to pay someone for something they already have.

Something I'd also like to add which has yet to be raised (from what I've read anyways - I don't get to read all the forums), is what purpose large to super jumbo flake size could really be used for. There is plenty of talk about batteries, but not one word on military uses.

Graphite is used in the following:
- jet engine turbine blades
- missile cases
- protective surfaces for military vehicles ranging from trucks to ships to helicopters
- stealth applications as graphite can be used a a radar absorbing material
- military aerospace applications due to it resistance to extreme high and low temperatures (think mechanical brakes and insulation in the fuselage)

So it should be no surprise that the Chinese are interested in shoring up a supply of high grade, large to super jumbo graphite. Of course this is all hypothesis but this certainly needs to be thought of in the context of uses of graphite.

As for the 'mine is bigger than yours' arguments that I've seen on the various threads, the to and fro debate is laughable at best. There is room in the market for more than one stock to make it to production and while some deposits can be compared due to metallurgy, grade and location, not all can be compared to one another as the factors previously mentioned will never always be the same.
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