TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 27, 2021 / Gratomic Inc. ("Gratomic", "GRAT" or the "Company") (TSXV:GRAT)(OTCQX:CBULF)(Frankfurt:CB82) announces the commencement of wet commissioning (Stage C4), The Company has started running material through the crushing circuit in preparation of full commissioning of its Aukam processing plant. The entire Gratomic Executive team was present for this significant milestone and witnessed the equipment operating as it was engineered to perform.
The following is the detailed explanation of the C4 wet commissioning phase:
- Check site-wide systems are fully operational
- Confirm operator technicians trained and able to run commissioning
- Check as-built document complete
- Confirm Operations and Maintenance manuals available in draft form
"Our team at Aukam continues to excel," said Arno Brand, CEO & President, "The progress on the project advances at an exceptional rate and the Gratomic team has easily surmounted any potential obstacles that have arisen at the project over the previous months."
Assembly continues on the material thickener tank, see HERE for corresponding press release dated September 7th, 2021. The unit is currently going through its final assembly. Additionally, the Company has reduced its water cost by 50% through collaboration with local communities in the immediate Aukam area and water demand on site is currently fully met by supply. Upon completion, the plant will sustain over 1,000,000 liters of water storage. Included in this total is water storage, process water, and water recycling (as indicated in its press release dated November 9, 2020, Gratomic will recycle approximately 95% of the water in the system). See HERE to view the press release. This is sufficient storage to sustain operations once the plant is fully commissioned.
The plumbing, electrical and air compressor circuits for the three mixing tanks and vertical columns are currently under assembly. Once these components are installed, water will be introduced into these units for testing and calibration. The product thickener tank, which was assembled in April of 2021, will be filled to a 70% capacity in preparation for the next stage. The completion of the material thickener tank, the delivery of the twelve additional mixing tanks and nine additional flotation columns (see press release dated September 7th, 2021), will bring the flotation circuit into the final stage of C4 wet commissioning.
Final assembly of the plumbing and electrical circuits to the press filter are in the final connection phase. Conveyor B has been installed, with the catwalks and stairways completed. The custom-built material chipper and hopper has been completed and mounted above the rotary drier, which was installed and assembled in April of this year.
The crushing circuit has moved into the wet commissioning phase. From here, the circuit will undergo comprehensive calibration on all systems and will be fitted with custom enclosures to secure the preservation of graphite fines throughout the crushing process. The calibration phase is an extremely important step in the commissioning process, it requires ample time and attention to be carried out effectively to ensure optimal future performance of the cycle.
"The Gratomic team has been working very hard during the construction phases and is proud to have reached wet commissioning. This brings the Company into the forefront of the final transition from a junior exploration company into a development company," says Armando Farhate, COO & Head of Graphite Marketing and Sales.
Click HERE for video footage of wet commissioning.
Gratomic wishes to emphasize that no Preliminary Economic Analysis, Preliminary Feasibility Study or Feasibility Study has been completed to support any level of production. In fact, no mineral resources let alone mineral reserves demonstrating economic viability and technical feasibility, have been delineated on the Aukam property.
The Company is working towards completing a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) on the Aukam Processing plant. The study, its recommendations, and their subsequent implementation, will provide conclusions and recommendation at a PFS level of comfort relating to the scale up of the existing processing plant to a commercial scale processing facility capable of producing the desired concentrate grades and production rates.
Gratomic wishes to emphasize that the supply of graphite is conditional on Gratomic being able to bring the Aukam project into a production phase, and for any graphite being produced to meet certain technical and mineralization requirements. Gratomic continues to move its business towards production and as part of its business plan, expects to file a National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects resource estimate in Q1 2022.
Risk Factors
No mineral resources, let alone mineral reserves demonstrating economic viability and technical feasibility, have been delineated on the Aukam Property. The Company is not in a position to demonstrate or disclose any capital and/or operating costs that may be associated with the processing plant until the PFS is completed.
The Company advises that it has not based its production decision on even the existence of mineral resources let alone on a PFS or feasibility study of mineral reserves, demonstrating economic and technical viability, and, as a result, there may be an increased uncertainty of achieving any particular level of recovery of minerals or the cost of such recovery, including increased risks associated with developing a commercially mineable deposit.
Historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic and technical failure. There is no guarantee that production will begin as anticipated or at all or that anticipated production costs will be achieved.
Failure to commence production would have a material adverse impact on the Company's ability to generate revenue and cash flow to fund operations. Failure to achieve the anticipated production costs would have a material adverse impact on the Company's cash flow and future profitability.
Qualified Persons
Steve Gray, P. Geo. has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release and is a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Gratomic
Gratomic is focused on introducing an exceptional anode material to the global electric vehicle and energy storage supply chains. True to its roots as an exploration and mining company, Gratomic aims to achieve full operational capabilities in 2021 on its Aukam Graphite Project and continues to diversify its assets into a multi-national company with various projects globally. Large quantities of its naturally high-quality vein graphite have been shipped for testing to confirm its viability as an anode material. Gratomic is confident that the results will provide a unique competitive advantage in its desired target markets.
The Company's recent collaboration agreement with Forge Nano has advanced the developments on its graphite finalization phase for the micronization, spheronization, and the patented ALD coating of its Aukam vein graphite for use in lithium-ion batteries. Forge Nano is a global leader in surface engineering and precision nano-coating technology, using Atomic Layer Deposition.
GRAT has two outstanding off-take purchase agreements with TODAQ and Phu Sumika with contract fulfillment slated to begin in 2021.  Gratomic plans to deliver mine-to-market traceability through its partnership with deeptech company TODAQ by providing documented tracking on all graphite generated at its flagship Aukam Graphite Project.
For more information: visit the website at www.gratomic.ca or contact:
Arno Brand at [email protected] or 416 561- 4095
Subscribe at gratomic.ca/contact/ to be added to our email list.
"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."
Forward Looking Statements:
This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com).
SOURCE: Gratomic Inc.