| Factor | FMS | EQZ | Reasoning |
| Grade | 1 | 0 | Double the grade. EGZ Grade is good compared to many, but FMS have to mine 1/2 the ore to produce the same finished product as EGZ. Grade is King. |
| Total resource | 0 | 1 | 200t is indeed a massive ore body, but FMS at 8mt can mine 50,000tpa for 160 years. Well beyond the lifetime of myself and my children. FMS are looking to increase resources and are currently drilling. |
| Production Costs | 1 | 0 | Mining 1/2 the ore per tonne of finished product is 'likely' to have a lower cost of production per tonne. |
| Capex Costs (@ 95%) | 1 | 0 | For the same production, EGZ will have to have higher capacity production facilities or operate for longer time periods at a greater opex. |
| Final Recoveries | 0 | 0 | Neither company has published final recovery information for a closed production circuit. |
| Flake Distribution | 0 | 0 | We do not yet know the final distribution for EGZ to compare. |
| Stage of Development | 1 | 0 | FMS are NI43 compliant, with a PEA out soon and off-take discussions on-going. EGZ are/have not. |
| Domestic Market Access | 1 | 0 | FMS will have direct access to the Canadian/US Market. There is no local market for EGZ, all product must be exported. |
| Export Market Access | 1 | 0 | Vancouver-Shanghai 5,110nm / Tulear to Shanghai 6,456nm, although from Quebec to Vancouver is 3,000km rail freight vs say 150km on Madagascan roads. Sept-lles to London 2,880nm / Tulear to London 7,199nm clear advantage for FMS to European Markets. Freight from Madagascar would run right up the Somali Coast with the associated piracy threat and through the Straights of Hormuz, a potential risk if US/Iranian issues arise after the November elections. Add in poor customs efficiency, heightened insurance costs and for me it is pretty conclusive. |
| Market penetration | 1 | 0 | FMS plans for vertical integration means they intend to produce 95%, 99.9%, Spherical and Anodes. They are looking at technology/high margin commercialisation. |
| Politics | 1 | 0 | FMS is in a safe mining friendly jurisdiction, stable Government, low levels of corruption, low crime rates. EGZ has none of this. The political situation is described as fluid and subject to change (UK Foreign Office). Circumstances for EGZ could change very quickly and this is likely in the long term. The corrupt nature of the administration means EGZ will potentially have to grease wheels to get to production. There is an on-going trend of reversing neocolonialism in Africa. Canadian adminstrations could never take ownership of FMS, to the detriment of shareholders. |
| Government Efficiency | 1 | 0 | Quebec is considered the best place in the world to conduct a mining operation. Madagascar has one of the most inefficient Governments in the world. Some companies have had to wait considerable periods for permitting & licensing. |
| Infrastructure | 1 | 0 | I do not really think we need to spend much time discussing this. First world, versus third world. FMS have access to power, water, well maintained National highways, high quality deep water ports and nearby rail access. EGZ do not have access to this, indeed Rio Tinto had to conduct several years of infrastructure preparation before it's Fort Dauphin mine opened in 2009. |
| Labour Force | 1 | 0 | FMS has access to a readily available and highly skilled workforce, experienced with mining and resource production and personnel management. Madagascar's economy is primarily focused on agriculture (70%). Canada's literacy rate is 99%, Madagascar's is 69%. |
| External Partnerships | 1 | 0 | FMS is co-operating with Hydro-Quebec and Rutgers University through Grafoid. I am not aware of any similar developmental relationships for EGZ. |
| Working Capital | 1 | 0 | FMS have $20m in hand. As at March 31th 2012 EGZ had $1.6m cash and a $3.4m bond. FMS has 31% of it's mkt cap as working capital, EGZ only 10.4%. |
| Financing | 1 | 0 | FMS has funds to continue operations for a considerably longer period before financing becomes necessary. Near term PEA could well lead to off-takes or availablity of debt financing. EGZ will only be able to fund through equity dilution for the forseeable future. |
| Share Structure | 1 | 0 | FMS is not known for a tight structure with 122m fully diluted, 7.5m options and 18m warrants. It is though tighter than EGZ at 216m fully diluted, 19m options and 44m warrants |
| Institutional participation | 1 | 0 | FMS 13%, 4 institutions and 8 mutual funds. EGZ 0.3%, 1 institution. |
| Future Upside | 0 | 1 | FMS have a Graphene upside, EGZ a Vanadium upside. Hard to compare these, but I'll give it to EGZ as the Vanadium is at least NI43 compliant. Personally I do think Grafoid has much more potential. |
| TOTAL | 16 | 2 | |