VRC's application is very competitive and has a high probability...

VRC's application is very competitive and has a high probability to get it for the following reasons:

(1) Graphite supply advantages: Only existing graphite producer in EU with purity of 99.5% done at mine - ZG mine; Large reserve (2nd in the world?) with 54% coarse flake (easy to purify) in Bunyu Mine. SYR has the lager reserve, but is not as good as VRC mines in terms of purity. In addition SYR has gotten a $220m from DoE, likely is will be excluded from the current period of applications.

(2) Partner AECT (exclusive): "AETC is the only organization in North America capable of producing commercial quantities of spheroidized surface coated battery-ready graphite for lithium-ion battery anodes".

(3) Off-takes: Existing ones and upcoming ones with large companies.

The case looks very strong for me. There will be 4-8 awards, who else is more competitive? In addition, geopolitical factors may also help VRC. The $50m support for a good cause is nothing comparing to the $50b war support.