Working on a few calculations. Graphite foil of average grade...

Working on a few calculations.
Graphite foil of average grade sells for approx $30/m2 @1/32" high grade is upto the $50/m2 mark
This translates back well to the US$50,000 per tonne, as 1m2 of 1/32" graphite foil weights approx 1kg meaning 1,000m2 per tonne at $50 = US$50,000per tonne, this is the upper end though
The cost to produce Graphite foil is now down to $3/m2 since a 2004 trial at the University of Manchester, UK.
Based on our extraction model and costing of US$570 per tonne, lets call it US$600
Shipping of 1 tonne of raw ore Tanzania to China is approx US$15 per tonne based on shipping minimum 1,000 tonnes per shipment, lets make this US$20
Cost of producing 1 tonne of graphite to expanded graphite is approx US$3,000
This will make our total cost of expandable around US$3,620 per tonne with a sale price between US$30,000 and US$50,000, very nice

Now for the market.
The market for expanded graphite is much bigger than people are thinking in my opinion.
Expanded graphite is currently used in LCD televisions, laptops, microprocessors, computers, any high end processors and heat shields. It is also used in solar panels and RFID's. There are trial applications in electrodes for high end lithium ion and vanadium raedox batteries for electric vehicles. Basically expanded graphite can be used everywhere that silica currently is in use, however it has better thermal and conductive properties. The reason silica was used, was the relatively high cost of expanding graphite which until the last decade was at upto $15,000 per tonne

The future
With the reduced cost of graphite sheets this may allow developers to look towards graphene-based flexible optoelectronic systems, including such things as mobile phones with roll-up displays, e-paper, , medical patches to deliver drugs or monitor vital signs, and tactile or electronic skin for robotics and prosthetics

Of course, if any of our graphite is not of the quality to be expanded (doesn't sound too likely ) it can still be sold with a sale price of up to US$4050 per tonne

Finally I forgot to mention that when converting graphite to expanded graphite through bisulfate intercalation for every 1 tonne of graphite put in, we get 1.2 tonnes of expanded graphite out.

GLTAH