Ceylon Graphite Corp (CYL.V) hold high purity graphite assets in Sri Lanka. CYL.V specializes in mining lump vein graphite for the development and commercialization of innovative graphite products.
Coverage was initiated on January 2018 with notes on July 2018, January 2019 August 2019. May 2020. and January 2021.
News releases
Jan. 27 - Participates in O&M Town Hall Webinar Wednesday, January 27th, 2021 and Upcoming Investor Conference.
Feb. 4 - Commences Expanded 2021 Drill Program: Launched an expanded drill program at one of its properties in Sri Lanka, with drilling commencing on its H1 site. The initial phase of the drill program will include 6 new 220 to 250 meters bore holes and has been designed to develop the parameters of the H1 mine.
Commercial production began at Ceylon’s K1 site in 2020 and the Company has initiated the application process for an Industrial Mining License Category A for its M1 site, on which it expects to begin commercial production in Q3 2021.
The 2021 drilling program is aimed to provide sufficient data to file 43-101 compliant resource reports for each site.
Feb. 9 -Establishes ESG Standards for the Production of Clean Graphite: Developed and published best in class Environmental, Sustainability and Governance Standards (ESG) with intent to be a global leader:
i) No open pit mining, ii) No primary upgrading required iii) True, certified renewable energy to be used in all operations vi) No harmful environmental materials used in any future upgrading.
Feb. 16 -Re-Start Production at K1 Mine and Provides Update: To resume production at its K1 site, marking a return to normal operating levels pre-COVID 19 disruptions which interrupted mining activity twice in 2020/21.
Feb. 23 - Signs Global License MOU for Specialized Graphite and Graphene Technologies: Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the intent to enter into an exclusive global licence with Cambridge Advanced Materials Innovation (“CAMI”) Consultancy Ltd, an arm’s length party incorporated and registered in England.
The CAMI Technology relates to a method of producing high quality few-layer graphene (“FLG”) and derivatives by exfoliation of processed high grade vein graphite produced by Ceylon Graphite. The highly effective exfoliation process is low energy consuming but results in increased yield (>60%) of few-layer graphene products which have been validated for batteries and energy cells in addition to industrial end-user applications.
Mar. 4 - Announces Discovery of New Graphite Veins and Provides Operational Update:
Mar. 8 - Files Patent for Newly Developed Biocidal Nanocomposite Surface Coating Material: Ceylon Graphite has filed a patent application (Number 2102984.8) in Great Britain on March 3, 2021. The Company’s Biocidal Nanocomposite material will utilize its unique high-grade graphite. The material has been designed to combat the transmission of a wide array of pathogens to humans via contaminated surfaces such as touchscreens, door handles, workstations, etc.
Mar. 23 -Appoints Successful Sri Lanka Business Leader to Board of Directors: Jody P. Lenihan has joined the Board of Directors of the company. One of the founding shareholders of Ceylon Graphite, and was Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of South Asia Energy Management Systems (SAEMS).
Mar. 25 - Opens UK Office to Facilitate R&D Acceleration and Access to European Battery Market; The UK is home to leading global research and technology advancement in graphite applications, is the birthplace of graphene, and is also where Ceylon’s Chief Science Officer and technology partners Dr. Siva Bohm and Dr. Mallika Bohm are located.
June 2- CEO and Chairman, Bharat Parashar Retires and Donald K. Baxter Takes Over as CEO: Don is one of the premier graphite experts outside of China, having built one of only two producing graphite mines in North America.
He has also been responsible for rapidly advancing the development of value-added graphite products, namely coated spherical purified graphite for the lithium-ion battery sector.
June 3 - Announces Management Addition: Mr. Rodney Stevens as Vice President, Corporate Development.
June 14 - Announces Licence for Vein Graphite and Graphene Technologies: Acquired an exclusive global licence from Cambridge Advanced Materials & Innovation (“CAMI”). The licence pertains to a method of producing high quality few-layer graphene (“FLG”) by exfoliation of high grade vein graphite produced by Ceylon Graphite.
June 25 - Announce Debt Conversion: Issued an aggregate of 1,5M common shares (at $0.20 cents) to Mr. Parashar in exchange for the cancellation of $300,000 (the “Debt”) in debt owing.
The Debt is comprised of $100,000 in unpaid, accrued management fees over a period of four (4) years pertaining to managing the affairs of Ceylon’s various subsidiaries and $200,000 as a retirement payment to Mr. Parashar.
June 28 - Announces Publication in the Royal Society: Ceylon Chief Scientific Executive, Dr. Siva Bohm, and Ceylon Technical Director Dr. Mallika Bohm have published a paper titled “Graphene Production By Cracking” in one of the oldest Journal by the Royal Society, “Philosophical Transaction A”. This follows a long list of publications By Drs. Bohm.
July 7 - Announces MOU for Joint Venture to Develop and Operate Additional New Graphite Mines Memorandum of Understanding dated June 30, 2021 (the “MOU”) with two subsidiaries of Lanka ORIX Leasing Company Group (“LOLC”); LOLC GEO Technologies Ltd. (“LOLCGT”) and LOLC Advanced Technologies Ltd. (“LOLCAT”), will work together to develop new graphite mines outside of the existing Ceylon portfolio, and to construct and operate a state-of-the-art graphite processing facility in Sri Lanka.
The MOU provides for Ceylon and LOLC to develop and operate a minimum of three mines on grids located near the Government owned Kahatagha Mine. Under the MOU, Ceylon intends to purchase a 10% interest in LOLCGT with an option to buy up to 40% of the company. The development of the new mines will be funded on a pro rata basis, will be operated by Ceylon, and Ceylon will agree to offtake all mine production for further processing.
The MOU is non-binding and signals the intent of both parties to negotiate in good faith a definitive agreement to reflect the intent and content of the MOU. There is no assurance that such an agreement will be reached.
July 13 - CORRECTION to NEWS RELEASE Dated July 7, 2021: Ceylon would like to highlight from the July 7, 2021 press release LOLC intends to purchase up to an aggregate of 15% of Ceylon shares either as a lead order on a future financing or under separate terms with timing and terms to be detailed in a definitive agreement. We view the strong financial backing from LOLC as a strong validation of our assets and management team that this deal brings.
July 19 - Announces the Incorporation of a UK Subsidiary: Ceylon Graphite Technologies LTD (“CGT”), in the United Kingdom. The objective of CGT is to develop innovative applications for value added graphite and graphene in multiple market segments, focussing on battery anode graphite as Europe drives forward into vehicle electrification.
July 30 -Late Filing of Financial Statements and Management Cease Trade Order: Expects to file the 2021 Annual Financial Statements on or before September 29, 2021 and will issue a news release announcing completion.
Aug. 13 -Provides Update On Filing Annual Financial Statements: Announces that its application for a management cease trade order ("MCTO"), as previously announced in a news release dated July 30, 2021, has been accepted by the British Columbia Securities Commission (the "BCSC"). The MCTO was issued by the BCSC, effective as of July 30, 2021
Aug. 27 -Provides Update On Filing Annual Financial Statements:
Sep. 2 - Announces Marketing Agreement: Entered into a 6-month marketing and consulting contract with Toronto based marketing firm, North Equities Corp. North Equities Corp. specializes in various social media platforms and will be able to facilitate greater awareness and widespread dissemination of the Company's news.
The Company will pay, as approved by the Board of Directors of the Company, C$100,000 plus GST for the services under the Agreement and 800,000 options. The options are excercisable at a price of C$0.14 and expire in 5 years.
Sep. 21 - Files Annual Financial Statements: Filed its audited annual financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2021. In addition, the Company filed the quarterly financial statement and MD&A for quarter ended June 30, 2021.
Sep. 27 - Produced High-Performance Coated Spherical Vein Graphite for Lithium-ion Battery Anode Materials: Achieved a significant breakthrough in the performance of its vein graphite anode material (C 99.995%) in coin cells for the lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) battery market. In tests at WMG, part of the University of Warwick’s Energy Innovation Centre, Ceylon’s vein graphite anode material far exceeded comparable anodes.
Oct. 1 - Seeks Approval to Extend Warrant: To extend the exercise period of an aggregate of 8,000,000 common share purchase warrants that were issued to subscribers from a previous private placement (October 16, 2019).
Summary
Appointment
In March 2021, Jody P. Lenihan was appointed as a board member. Thereafter, Donald Baxter took over the CEO role from Bharat Parashar and Rodney Stevens was appointed as Vice President, Corporate Development (June 2021).
Licensing
February 2021, CYL.V entered an MOU with Cambridge Advanced Material Innovation (CAMI) for its high few layer graphine (FLG) process. In June 2021, it acquired an exclusive global licence from CAMI. As a result, CYL.V open an office in the UK in March 2021 and Incorporated the organization as Ceylon Graphite Technologies LTD in July 2021.
Mining Activities
CYL.V has provided the market with selected updates via releases: Expanded Drill Program H1 (Feb. 2021), Production at K1 Mine resumptions (Feb. 2021) as well as Vein Discovery at H1 (Mar. 2021).
In July 2021, an MOU for JV with LOLC Geo Technologies LTD (LOLCGT) and LOLC Advanced Technologies (LOLCAT) to develop new graphite mines outside of the existing Ceylon portfolio was announced.
Furthermore, the company remains focused on bringing operations at K1, M1, H1, P1 as well as six other potential sites under development into production, having combined production potential of 50,00 tonnes per year. The LOLC JV will bring a minimum of three other mines into production with Ceylon off taking all the graphite. This is expected to significantly increase Ceylon’s future production growth profile.
R&D
A number of activities were reported in the last 10 months. March 2021, CYL.V filed a patent for Biocidal Nano-composite surface coating material. In June 2021, a Publication: Graphene Production By Cracking was reported.
Recently, the performance coated spherical vein graphite for anode materials using CYL.V's graphite was disclosed.
This is the first time in battery research history that commercial spherodized vein graphite materials were tested in a lithium ion battery in a coin cell. Results came in a 382 mAh/g for reversible capacity (RC), which is beyond what is expected for the best current commercially used synthetic graphite with an RC of 363 mAh/g. Data was collected from 5 separate coin cells for Ceylon graphite and for commercial synthetic supplier materials.
Financing
June 2021, Ceylon Graphite issued 1.5M shares at $0.20 cents for $0.3M debt owed to Bharat Parashar.
In Short
COVID-19 had definitively an impact on the Ceylon Graphite. However, CYL.V reported being in production but has not provided a tonnage number for FY 2020. The last release pertaining to mining activities were in July 2021.
Otherwise CYL.V has definitely bolstered its R&D activities including a licensing deal from CAMI. Also, the recent performance of coated spherical vein for anode material seems promising, as well as, the upcoming 43-101.
Nonetheless, it's unclear whether the market will adopt high grade vein graphite given that processing is still required. Also, the amount of outstanding warrant is a potential headwind for valuation especially given that the company will need to raise more funds in the near future. At least, until it is able to secure a sizable off-take for its products.
As such, CYL.V's coverage will be put on hold.
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