Focus Graphite Reports Preliminary Phase II Locked Cycle Tests from Lac Knife Yield High Purity 96.6% C Flake Graphite

Focus Graphite Inc.

TSX VENTURE : FMS
OTCQX : FCSMF
FRANKFURT : FKC

March 04, 2013 09:58 ET

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 4, 2013) - Focus Graphite Inc. (TSX VENTURE:FMS)(OTCQX:FCSMF)(FRANKFURT:FKC) ("Focus" or the "Corporation") is pleased to report preliminary Phase II Locked Cycle Test* (LCT) results for its Lac Knife, Québec high-grade graphite deposit.

SGS Canada Inc. ("SGS") has completed Phase II LCTs on four (4) composite core samples comprised of low-grade and semi-massive graphite with a head grade ranging between 6.0% C and 20.7% C. Highlights are as follows:

• The average amount of graphite flake recovered from the core samples in the Phase II LCTs increased to 92.2% compared with a recovery of 84.7% graphite flake in the Phase I LCTs

• The proportion of large flakes (+80 mesh) in the graphite concentrates ranged between 35% and 58%

• The carbon content of graphite concentrates produced from the four (4) composites averaged 96.6 %C, including the fine flake fraction (-200 mesh), a 4.6% increase over Phase I LCTs completed in mid 2012

* A locked cycle test is a repetitive batch flotation test conducted to assess flow sheet design. It is the preferred method for arriving at a metallurgical projection from laboratory testing. The final cycles of the test are designed to simulate a continuous, stable flotation circuit. 

All carbon analyses were performed by SGS and are reported as total carbon (C). The analytical methods that were used to determine the metallurgical results included double loss on ignition analysis (double LOI) and total carbon analysis by Leco on the final concentrates. The lower grade tailings products were analyzed by the graphitic carbon method to discount the organic carbon and carbonate carbon in the samples.
Final Phase II LCT results including for the two (2) composite core samples comprising of massive graphite are pending.

"The findings from the Phase I and Phase II metallurgical testing program have been incorporated into the design of the flow sheet for the pilot plant scheduled for start-up in late March or early April," said Dr. Joseph Doninger, Director of Manufacturing and Technology for Focus Graphite.
The purpose of the pilot plant is to confirm the results from Phase II LCTs, produce graphite flake samples for customer evaluations and generate graphite raw materials for further upgrading.

Focus President and CEO Gary Economo said "These latest results continue to confirm Lac Knife's status as an exceptional flake graphite project.
"The very high carbon content of our fine (-200 mesh ) graphite flake could provide a low cost raw material that could be upgraded to the high purity carbon levels that lithium-ion battery manufacturers require.
"It supports our technology focus on the lithium-ion battery market for transportation and energy applications," Mr. Economo said. "It allows us to assign the much higher-priced large flake to other high-technology projects.
"Ultimately, it ends a misconception in the marketplace that only large flake graphite is suitable for battery-grade materials."

These results will also allow Focus to advance its discussions with potential customers, Mr. Economo said.

About SGS Metallurgical Services (Lakefield)

SGS Canada Inc. ("SGS") is recognized as a world leader in the development of flow sheets and pilot plant programs. SGS' Metallurgical Services division was founded over half a century ago. Its metallurgists, hydrometallurgists and chemical engineers are experienced in all the major physical and chemical separation processes utilized in the recovery of metals and minerals contained in resource properties around the world.

About Focus Graphite
Focus Graphite Inc. is an emerging mid-tier junior mining development company, a technology solutions supplier and a business innovator. Focus is the owner of the Lac Knife graphite deposit located in the Côte-Nord region of northeastern Québec. The Lac Knife project hosts a NI 43-101 compliant Measured and Indicated mineral resource of 4.972 Mt grading 15.7% carbon as crystalline graphite with an additional Inferred mineral resource of 3.000 Mt grading 15.6% crystalline graphite. Focus' goal is to assume an industry leadership position by becoming a low-cost producer of technology-grade graphite. On October 29^th, 2012 the Company released the results of a Preliminary Economic Analysis ("PEA") of the Lac Knife project which demonstrates that the project has robust economics* and excellent potential to become a profitable producer of graphite. As a technology-oriented enterprise with a view to building long-term, sustainable shareholder value, Focus invests in the development of graphene applications and patents through Grafoid Inc.

* Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
The information pertaining to the metallurgical test program completed by SGS that is presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Oliver Peters, M.Sc., P.Eng, MBA, SGS Canada Inc. Consulting Metallurgist.

This news release has been reviewed by Mr. Marc-Andre Bernier, M.Sc., P.Geo. (Ontario and Québec), Focus Graphite Director and Technical Advisor and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

Forward Looking Statements - Disclaimer
This news release may contain forward looking statements, being statements which are not historical facts, and discussions of future plans and objectives. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove accurate. Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are in our documents filed from time to time with the TSX Venture Exchange and provincial securities regulators, most of which are available at www.sedar.com. Focus Graphite disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements.

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.

Contact Information

Focus Graphite Inc.
Mr. Gary Economo
President and Chief Executive Officer
613-691-1091, ext. 101
geconomo@focusgraphite.com
www.focusgraphite.com

Graphene micro super capacitors will change the world according to UCLA Prof

University of California - Los Angeles

UCLA researchers develop new technique to scale up production of graphene micro-supercapacitors

While the demand for ever-smaller electronic devices has spurred the miniaturization of a variety of technologies, one area has lagged behind in this downsizing revolution: energy-storage units, such as batteries and capacitors.

Now, Richard Kaner, a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA and a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Maher El-Kady, a graduate student in Kaner's laboratory, may have changed the game.

The UCLA researchers have developed a groundbreaking technique that uses a DVD burner to fabricate micro-scale graphene-based supercapacitors — devices that can charge and discharge a hundred to a thousand times faster than standard batteries. These micro-supercapacitors, made from a one-atom–thick layer of graphitic carbon, can be easily manufactured and readily integrated into small devices such as next-generation pacemakers.

The new cost-effective fabrication method, described in a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications, holds promise for the mass production of these supercapacitors, which have the potential to transform electronics and other fields.

"The integration of energy-storage units with electronic circuits is challenging and often limits the miniaturization of the entire system," said Kaner, who is also a professor of materials science and engineering at UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. "This is because the necessary energy-storage components scale down poorly in size and are not well suited to the planar geometries of most integrated fabrication processes."

"Traditional methods for the fabrication of micro-supercapacitors involve labor-intensive lithographic techniques that have proven difficult for building cost-effective devices, thus limiting their commercial application," El-Kady said. "Instead, we used a consumer-grade LightScribe DVD burner to produce graphene micro-supercapacitors over large areas at a fraction of the cost of traditional devices. Using this technique, we have been able to produce more than 100 micro-supercapacitors on a single disc in less than 30 minutes, using inexpensive materials."

The process of miniaturization often relies on flattening technology, making devices thinner and more like a geometric plane that has only two dimensions. In developing their new micro-supercapacitor, Kaner and El-Kady used a two-dimensional sheet of carbon, known as graphene, which only has the thickness of a single atom in the third dimension.

Kaner and El-Kady took advantage of a new structural design during the fabrication. For any supercapacitor to be effective, two separated electrodes have to be positioned so that the available surface area between them is maximized. This allows the supercapacitor to store a greater charge. A previous design stacked the layers of graphene serving as electrodes, like the slices of bread on a sandwich. While this design was functional, however, it was not compatible with integrated circuits.

In their new design, the researchers placed the electrodes side by side using an interdigitated pattern, akin to interwoven fingers. This helped to maximize the accessible surface area available for each of the two electrodes while also reducing the path over which ions in the electrolyte would need to diffuse. As a result, the new supercapacitors have more charge capacity and rate capability than their stacked counterparts.
 Interestingly, the researchers found that by placing more electrodes per unit area, they boosted the micro-supercapacitor's ability to store even more charge.

Kaner and El-Kady were able to fabricate these intricate supercapacitors using an affordable and scalable technique that they had developed earlier. They glued a layer of plastic onto the surface of a DVD and then coated the plastic with a layer of graphite oxide. Then, they simply inserted the coated disc into a commercially available LightScribe optical drive — traditionally used to label DVDs — and took advantage of the drive's own laser to create the interdigitated pattern. The laser scribing is so precise that none of the "interwoven fingers" touch each other, which would short-circuit the supercapacitor.

"To label discs using LightScribe, the surface of the disc is coated with a reactive dye that changes color on exposure to the laser light. Instead of printing on this specialized coating, our approach is to coat the disc with a film of graphite oxide, which then can be directly printed on," Kaner said. "We previously found an unusual photo-thermal effect in which graphite oxide absorbs the laser light and is converted into graphene in a similar fashion to the commercial LightScribe process. With the precision of the laser, the drive renders the computer-designed pattern onto the graphite oxide film to produce the desired graphene circuits."

"The process is straightforward, cost-effective and can be done at home," El-Kady said. "One only needs a DVD burner and graphite oxide dispersion in water, which is commercially available at a moderate cost."
The new micro-supercapacitors are also highly bendable and twistable, making them potentially useful as energy-storage devices in flexible electronics like roll-up displays and TVs, e-paper, and even wearable electronics.

The researchers showed the utility of their new laser-scribed graphene micro-supercapacitor in an all-solid form, which would enable any new device incorporating them to be more easily shaped and flexible. The micro-supercapacitors can also be fabricated directly on a chip using the same technique, making them highly useful for integration into micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS).

These micro-supercapacitors show excellent cycling stability, an important advantage over micro-batteries, which have shorter lifespans and which could pose a major problem when embedded in permanent structures — such as biomedical implants, active radio-frequency identification tags and embedded micro-sensors — for which no maintenance or replacement is possible.

As they can be directly integrated on-chip, these micro-supercapacitors may help to better extract energy from solar, mechanical and thermal sources and thus make more efficient self-powered systems. They could also be fabricated on the backside of solar cells in both portable devices and rooftop installations to store power generated during the day for use after sundown, helping to provide electricity around the clock when connection to the grid is not possible.

"We are now looking for industry partners to help us mass-produce our graphene micro-supercapacitors," Kaner said
(Ed Note:  the video explains one of many potential aplications)
Video presentation