RICHEST GRAPHITE DEAL Benoit Gascon's Mason Graphite Inc., down five cents to 54 cents on 86,000 shares, plans to sell $5-million of 55-cent flow-through shares and 50-cent regular shares. Most of the cash is for further exploration and development at the Lac Gueret graphite project in Quebec. Word of the financing comes hard on the heels of a spiffy dream sheet for Lac Gueret. The preliminary economic assessment, based on a $90-million mine plan, projects a discounted net present value of $364-million. Mr. Gascon touts Lac Gueret as "a world-class graphite deposit," a hackneyed Howe Street expression but not an unrealistic claim in this case, since the project hosts a measured and indicated resource of 7.6 million tonnes averaging 20.4 per cent graphite and another 2.8 million tonnes inferred at 17.3 per cent graphite. Unlike many of his promotional rivals, Mr. Gascon does have graphite experience. He was CEO of Stratmin Graphite Inc., where he engineered a takeover by Imerys SA to create Timcal Canada Inc. in 2002.