Jaded, here is my GERO. It is includes some of my deductions...

Jaded, here is my GERO. It is includes some of my deductions from assumption based planning. That means the gaps in the facts are filled with assumptions. It is hard to get all the facts in this area as you well know. So here goes.

The majority of Chinese graphite resources are amorphous. Some reports I have read suggest it as something close to 70%. If true, then the Chinese only have 30% of all their graphite resources available as either fine flake or coarse flake.

Acknowledging that there are particle sizing grades within the 2 types of flake graphite (fine and coarse), you will notice that the Chinese offtakes are for coarse and very coarse graphite. Mostly 150um and larger.

Coarse graphite has 2 major advantages over fine graphite.

1. It is best suited for making expandable graphite.
2. It has slightly better thermal shock properties than fine graphite.

The first advantage speaks for itself. The second advantage is a bit more obscure, but important none the less. If all other things regarding technical properties are equal then it is important to have the best thermal shock properties for the following needs.

Many military uses
Aerospace uses
Nuclear reactor uses

There used to be a 3rd possible advantage for coarse graphite. That was for making spherical graphite. Spherical graphite requires minimum purity levels of 99.5% and the lowest resistivity possible. In graphite, the better the crystalline structure then the lower the resistivity. Coarse graphite was historically the higher purity and slightly better crystalline structure stuff. Therefore, coarse graphite has been the chosen product in the natural flake arena for making spherical graphite. Although, it is noteworthy that most spherical graphite is being made from synthetic graphite at the moment.

Ironically, fine graphite is theoretically the best product for making spherical graphite because it normally has better apparent density and hardness specifications. It would also produce less wastage. Current wastage from coarse graphite is around 70%. However, until now there hasn't been a graphite producer that could provide fine graphite with purity levels and crystalline structure good enough to be used for making spherical........... until SYR came on the scene.

SYR have proven that their fine flakes can produce spherical graphite at better performance or at least equal to the performance of all other input products including synthetic graphite. That is why I say "there used to be a 3rd possible advantage for coarse graphite".

Anecdotally, I have heard that making spherical graphite from high quality fine flake drops the wastage down to 60%, and maybe even 50% in some cases. The spherical graphite process requires a starting particle size of 100um or less. That means coarse flake needs to be ground down to this particle size before even commencing the spherical making process. If you care to, then read this link to provide a good all round understanding of the technical issues with making spherical graphite.

An explanation of the spherical graphite making process

So, in summary. The Chinese look to have a supply problem for their own needs. Specifically it is to make expandable graphite, supply certain military requirements, plus the needs for aerospace applications as well as using it in the nuclear industry.

Be mindful that my GERO above is broad based because there is much more to it all than I portray in this simple post. There are 16 critical technical specifications that impact on the quality of graphite. 'Structure' and 'Thermal Shock' are just 2 of those specifications. End users have many and varied requirements and the technical specifications will vary accordingly as well. Furthermore, fine particle flake graphite has it own advantages over coarse flake depending upon the end use. That is a topic for another day.

One just needs to be mindful that there is much complexity underlying the simplistic points I make in this post. Regardless, the future looks bright to my GERO eyes for a growing demand for natural graphite of all descriptions. But then again......... maybe I'm "blinded by the light" ( remember ELO?).

Cheers