I joined the call at the time PC was meant to be presenting (2:40EST / ~6:40 AEDT) , but they had brought the agenda forward by 20 mins so didn't get to listen to his presentation. I'll check with the organiser whether they will be publishing the recording. Nonetheless, I've seen enough presentations on Volt that I doubt there would too many new things to learn.
I did stay on for the presentations of Forge Nano, Orbia, AETC and the round table discussion at the end which was very interesting.
On AETC, my appreciation for their status as one of 3 graphite chemical producers in the USA
increased significantly. Some key take aways (and some screen shots) from the presentation:
- They are privately owned, have operated in the USA for 15 years and hold commercial relationships with the US DOE, US DOD and US Navy.
- Dr Igor mentioned the collaboration between AETC and Volt, Volt is a trusted partner and have worked together for over 3 years
- There was a slide specifically referencing the use of ZG graphite used by AETC to produce precursor materials.
- Their Inverted flowsheet process is superior to the the classic/traditional flowsheet (used in China) which results in a much higher yield of battery anode graphite. Per the slide included below, using 1000kg of natural graphite, the AETC flowheet yields 722kg of CSPG vs 440kg of CSPG in the classic flowsheet. That is a 160% higher yield. NOTE: This flowsheet process is being used to convert Volt's (Bunyu and ZG) graphite into CSPG.
- Being a privately owned company AETC goes about it's business quietly, coming up with innovative/revolutionary developments particularly for the US DOD. They are not too vocal in a public forum
- Dr Igor Emphasized the need for US Government to invest in both natural and synthetic graphite producers in order to be able to create local supply chain in graphite which can operate at scale.
Another observation was that Dr Igor and PC (who cross referenced each other's company in their respective presentation) appeared to have a good working relationship.
The round table discussion was also interesting, focusing on the domination China has in the production of graphite and graphite specialty chemicals, and that the USA would need a combination of investment and trade policy changes to support the growth of a local US graphite industry. At the moment, nobody can compete with China because they are 20-30 years ahead and are able to produce graphite chemicals in large quantity very efficiently and cheap. One of the speakers suggested trade tariffs on Chinese graphite product would be one way to level the playing field. Also, PC mentioned that there are over 20 companies in the USA who have been able to produce graphite battery anode chemicals in very small scale (in the lab) but nobody is doing this at industrial scale, and this is where the USA government needs to invest in. There was a lot more to the discussion so I only highlighted a few key points.
In a nutshell, what I did walk away with is that partnership which Volt holds with AETC (due to AETC's standing as a graphite chemical specialist producer in the USA) will be
KEY to Volt successfully progressing through USA government funding process and winning a $50-100m grant.
- Volt has the graphite (in abundance), AETC has the process, experience, are in operation and hold commercial relationships with USA government departments.
- Both ZG and Bunyu graphite have been proven as amenable to delivering battery anode grade graphite, using AETC's inverted flowsheet process.
- Volt's battery anode graphite produced, has been proven to deliver excellent performance in lithium-ion batteries with a longer cycle life 1750 cycles vs 1000 cycle industry standard ( refer to Continued Excellent Performance of Volt Graphite Anode)
Other relevant announcements to AETC partnership in relation to progressing with US DOE funding for downstream plant included below:
Volt and AETC Enter into AgreementVolt Reports Significant Progress on Downstream BusinessVolt Progresses on Downstream Business
Hope this is helpful.
(20min delay)