Zenyatta Ventures and Lakehead University Announce Next Scale-Up Graphene Oxide Program for Environmental and Energy Applications
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
THUNDER BAY, ON--(Marketwired - June 15, 2017) - Zenyatta Ventures Ltd.
("Zenyatta" or "Company") (TSX VENTURE: ZEN) (OTCQX: ZENYF) is pleased to
announce a program for a scaled up production method of the Company's graphite
to graphene oxide ("GO") for applications in water remediation, electrochemical
sensors, supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries. The program is receiving grant
funding from the Ontario Centres for Excellence (OCE) to allow a team of
scientists under the direction of Dr. Aicheng Chen at Lakehead University in
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada to carry out this advanced nano-material research.
Dr. Aicheng Chen commented, "We found Zenyatta's high-purity Albany graphite to
be an ideal material for the production of graphene oxide and subsequent
environmental and energy application development."
The World Bank considers water security to be one of the top priorities. Water
used for drinking and agriculture is under a global risk with a projected 40%
shortfall between forecast demand and supply by 2030. A graphene-oxide membrane
exhibits some unique properties and may drastically improve the efficiency of
desalination and water remediation. In addition, the world deals with threats to
human health and pollution due to the increase of various toxic metal ions
entering the environment. GO and modified GO may facilitate the development of
high-performance electrochemical sensors to effectively detect and monitor these
pollutants.
The OCE Voucher for Innovation and Productivity II (VIP II) program is titled
"Fabrication of Graphene Based Nanomaterials from Zenyatta Graphite for Energy
and Environmental Applications". The OCE VIP II helps established Ontario-based
companies develop, implement and commercialize technical innovations by
supporting partnerships with publicly-funded post-secondary institutions. The
focus of the research work will be on scaling up production methods for
Zenyatta's graphite to GO, a first critical step towards commercialization of
the technology. The OCE VIP II $100,000 grant will be administered over two
years and Zenyatta will be contributing $50,000 in cash and $60,000 in-kind
support to the project. This OCE grant work will be a continuation of the
Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada ("NSERC")
Collaborative Research and Development ("CRD") grant awarded to Dr. Chen,
Professor of Chemistry and Canada Research Chair in Materials and Environmental
Chemistry in 2015.
Dr. Bharat Chahar, VP of Market Development for Zenyatta, stated, "The Company
is excited to continue advancing GO research with Dr. Chen and his research team
especially for energy applications. Zenyatta recently announced the successful
testing of the Company's graphene oxide material by a leading U.S. based
advanced materials company developing silicon-graphene anodes for the next
generation of lithium-ion batteries. The Company is playing an active role by
providing consistent high-purity Albany graphite test samples for collaborative
research and we are convinced of the global importance of graphene and GO
materials for disruptive technologies."
Aubrey Eveleigh, President and CEO stated, "We are very pleased to receive
recognition and support from OCE. This support complements our various
collaborative partnerships and allows us to produce larger scale samples of
graphene oxide which will permit continued application development. The Albany
project has the potential to produce high-purity graphite product that could
lead to high-tech, value-added business opportunities to emerge in Ontario and
Canada. On behalf of Zenyatta and the scientific team at Lakehead, I would like
to thank the Ontario Government for this important support in developing a one
of a kind product targeting the cleantech sector."
This VIP II project has evolved directly from the current successful NSERC CRD
project, and the primary purpose will be to facilitate the development of novel
Zenyatta graphite based products (graphene oxide (GO) and derived materials)
that were discovered during the current NSERC CRD project for commercial
applications and announced on 1 March 2017. Scaling up the production method
will be the first significant step towards commercialization of the technology.
The feasibility and limitations of the developed methodologies for the large
lab-scale processes will be assessed.
About Zenyatta
Zenyatta is developing its unique Albany graphite deposit in Ontario, Canada.
The Company's highly crystalline (Igneous-type) graphite deposit is situated 30
km north of the Trans-Canada Highway, power line and natural gas pipeline near
the communities of Constance Lake First Nation and Hearst. A rail line is
located 50 km away with an all-weather road approximately 10 km from the
deposit.
Dr. Bharat Chahar, P.E., VP Market Development for Zenyatta, is a Qualified
Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed, prepared
and supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news
release.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: This analysis does not represent a statistically large
sample size and the OCE grant is for going from small scale lab equipment to a
larger scale equipment. Furthermore, these positive results do not mean that
Zenyatta can extract and process Albany graphite for graphite applications on an
economic basis. Without a formal independent feasibility study, there is no
assurance that the operation will be economic. 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. This news release may contain forward looking information and
Zenyatta cautions readers that forward looking information is based on certain
assumptions and risk factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the expectations of Zenyatta included in this news release. This
news release includes certain "forward-looking statements", which often, but not
always, can be identified by the use of words such as "believes", "anticipates",
"expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". These
statements are based on information currently available to Zenyatta and Zenyatta
provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations.
Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements with respect to
Zenyatta's future plans, objectives or goals, to the effect that Zenyatta or
management expects a stated condition or result to occur, including the expected
timing for release of a pre-feasibility study, the expected uses for graphite in
the future, and the future uses of the graphite from Zenyatta's Albany deposit.
Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future
events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of
metallurgical processing, ongoing exploration, project development, reclamation
and capital costs of Zenyatta's mineral properties, and Zenyatta's financial
condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently
anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as, but are not limited to:
failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves; the preliminary
nature of metallurgical test results; the inability to identify target markets
and satisfy the product criteria for such markets; the inability to complete a
prefeasibility study; the inability to enter into offtake agreements with
qualified purchasers; delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required
governmental, environmental or other project approvals; political risks;
uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the
future; changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates;
fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of projects; capital
and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks
involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and those risks
set out in Zenyatta's public documents filed on SEDAR. This list is not
exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Zenyatta's forward-looking
statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers
should not place undue reliance on Zenyatta's forward-looking statements.
Although Zenyatta believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing
the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue
reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the
date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will
occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Zenyatta disclaims any intention
or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by
law.
Image
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yatta_1-51e51003331990d5b7e11cbfd02f2b39.jpg
CONTACT INFORMATION
For Further Information, please visit the Company's website
at www.zenyatta.ca or contact:
Mara Strazdins, HB.Sc.
VP Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
Mobile: (416) 710-0646
Office: (807) 346-1660
Email: mstrazdins(at)zenyatta.ca or info(at)zenyatta.ca
This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Zenyatta Ventures Ltd via GlobeNewswire
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 15.06.2017 - 14:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 548169
Anzahl Zeichen: 10777
contact information:
Town:
Thunder Bay, ON
Kategorie:
Business News
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"Zenyatta Ventures and Lakehead University Announce Next Scale-Up Graphene Oxide Program for Environmental and Energy Applications"
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