Misc

At ComCap19, I drank from a firehose of information about local investing, securities law, crowdfunding, and democratizing capital. And had a great time! by Evelyn Wright I just returned from spending four days in Detroit at one of the most inspiring and informative conferences I’ve attended in a long time: Community Capital 2019. This was the fourth gathering of this network of entrepreneurs, lawyers, financial professionals, economic development practitioners, and community organizers dedicated to democratizing and localizing finance and investment. I went because — after several months of researching the opportunities and challenges for cooperatives — I’ve seen that access to...

by Debra Fiakas, CFA Depending upon how you string the words together, it is possible to make Latin America sound like the world’s water fountain or the location of a putrid pond out of which hapless citizens ladle their drinking water. Try these lofty words. Four the world’s largest rivers and four of the world’s largest freshwater lakes can be found in the Latin America region with a run-off area encompassing 5,470 cubic miles.  The rainwater and snowmelt running into these water bodies represents 20% of the world’s run-off.  By itself Brazil is home to 20% of the water resources of the entire world. Here...

A list of graphite companies covered in this series can be found here. Like performance test results, customer relationships are critical stepping stones for graphite developers.  In June 2018, Northern Graphite (NGC: TSX-V) announced a memorandum of understanding with a European trading company to sell 100% of the output from Northern’s Bisset Creek resources in Ontario, Canada.  China-based manufacturers are the intended end-users.  Northern management is using the arrangement as leverage with prospective investors to finance mine infrastructure and processing equipment.  Capital costs are expected to exceed CA$145 million. Northern claims a proprietary purification technology the company intends to use to upgrade its graphite output.    Its Bissett Creek deposit...

by Debra Fiakas, CFA Last month Greystone Logistics (GLGI:  OTC/PK) announced a new purchase order valued at $6.8 million to supply recycled plastic pallets to a national food and agribusiness company.  The order requires the fledgling Greystone to manufacture and deliver an unspecified number of the company’s proprietary plastic shipping pallets.  Whatever the number, the contract promises a big shift in Greystone’s prospects given that the contract value represents 9% of total sales in the fiscal year. It seems Greystone is gaining visibility in the logistics supply chain.  However, trading at less than a buck a share its stock seems to not have yet registered on the...

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM:  LSE) has developed a process for high-volume production of graphene nanoplatelets or ‘stacks of two-dimensional graphene sheets that can be used in coatings, composites and polymers.  The attributes of nanoplatelets are not as impressive as the single layer of carbon atoms that scientists work with on their laboratory benches.  However, nanoplatelets ‘play’ better than single atoms, dispersing more easily into other materials.  Applied’s management says the promise of graphene is better achieved by being practical in transferring its characteristics to other high value materials. Applied’s graphene nanoplatelets are used in a range of products:  paints, coatings, polymers, composites, thermal pastes, and lubricants.  In...

Build up of the graphene materials industry has progressed a bit more slowly than originally expected a decade ago as scientists and engineers peered through their electron microscopes at single atoms of carbon and counted their many attributes.  At the time the potential to improve performance in end products like metal alloys and electronics seemed limitless.   Unfortunately, reality has not imitated early dreams.  Those companies that have brought graphene to the commercial market will attest to the challenges of jumping off the laboratory bench and into a factory. Even more frustrating is the sourcing of graphene to use in research, product development and...