In This Article:
Zentek Ltd. ("Zentek" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:ZTEK)(TSX-V:ZEN), an intellectual property technology development and commercialization company is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Albany Graphite Corporation (AGC) has achieved a preliminary five-nines purity of 99.9991% directly from a larger Albany graphite deposit flotation concentrate sample utilizing an operational pilot-scale fluidized bed reactor (FBR).
Highlights
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Ultra-high purity "five nines" 99.9991 wt.% from a platinum crucible Loss on Ignition (LOI) analysis
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Purification was performed utilizing an existing pilot-scale FBR directly on a ~950 g sample of the Albany flotation concentrate (85% Total Graphitic Carbon (TGC)) with no intermediate hydrometallurgical steps
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Preliminary proof of concept electrothermal purification testing using an FBR yielded extremely low total impurities concentration of 9 ppm (LOI) against the generally accepted maximum of 500 ppm for most advanced battery applications
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Zentek will continue to test the material for suitability as an anode component for lithium-ion batteries and its potential use in nuclear industry applications
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The Company will continue to explore both production and processing of graphite to create a battery-ready anode active and cathode conductivity enhancement materials
Thermal Purification Testing - Fixed-Bed Furnace
Following Zentek's July 17, 2024, press release, AGC, in collaboration with its Canadian technology partners, has continued to develop a viable thermal purification process to produce a consistent ultra-high purity graphite material. A second sample of the homogenized bulk flotation concentrate produced by SGS Canada Inc. during the 2017 flotation pilot plant campaign was upgraded from approximately 85% TGC to over 96% TGC using a small pilot hydrometallurgical process with standard metallurgical equipment. A 100 g sample of the >96% TGC feed was then thermally purified in a fixed-bed furnace under the same conditions as before (2,700°C for five minutes in an argon atmosphere). A 10 g sample of the purified material was subsequently shipped to Eurofins EAG Laboratories for a full 72 element GDMS analysis. The concentrations of all elements above the detection limits (25 of the 72 total) were summed to yield the total concentration of the detectable impurity elements that remained in the purified sample at 11.61 ppm wt. or 0.00116% wt. yielding a purity of 99.99884 %wt. The boron concentration in the sample was 1.8 ppm wt.
Thermal Purification Testing - Fluidized Bed Reactor
More recently, Zentek contracted a highly reputable North American manufacturing company specializing in industrial graphite and carbon to explore the direct purification of Albany flotation concentrate (~85% TGC) using its proprietary continuous processing equipment. Zentek supplied a one kg sample of the homogenized bulk flotation concentrate which was characterized, aggregated into 3-D particles, and then run in a pilot-scale FBR. The feed material was thermally purified utilizing their proprietary process. A platinum crucible LOI analysis conducted at 950°C on a sample of the purified material indicated an ash content of 0.0009 wt.% corresponding to a purity of 99.9991 wt.%. Notably, the manufacturing company reported that the Albany material was easily purified to an ultra-high purity level without the use of chlorine gas or any other halogen gases that are commonly used for graphite purification when 5N nuclear purity levels need to be achieved.