Ann: Update on Epanko Graphite Project and Pilot Plant Strategy, page-62

agree 100% with your safety point - no arguments on that front from my side

my point was that while it is a buyer's market, they will (or can) request all that they wish/want and the seller has to accommodate all that if they wish to supply... but as soon as the tables turn they will have to take what they are offered and at the price the sellers want... like co atm - US$80 K / ton and no one is asking "ethical" questions like "were any children digging holes in the DRC for this lot of Co?"... if they "waste" their time asking such real questions the DRC seller will sell their Co to another buyer...

we do not have such ethical questions here @ KNL as we are going through some amazing RAP that will ensure the best of the best in mining atm... the question about testing and benchmarking will be done and I will not be surprised if the buyers do that at their own expense PAYING for their bulk samples from companies like KNL (and others) while working on their binding offtakes in the hopes of not missing out...

in the end economics 101 wins over everything and testing and grading and benchmarks will still take place but a much faster pace and on the account of the buyer rather than the seller... I am not too "graphite savvy" but I know that getting graphite out of China is getting more and more difficult and hence the RoW buyers are seeking / developing alternatives from anywhere they can before it becomes impossible to get a gram of graphite from China soon (not sure how that is true but it should reach a stage where the flow stops coming out of China in a few years)...

on a side note - KNL @ 17c today - only one 18.5c-850K seller to note... will he stick around if the buyers up the ante ????