Brisbane, Queensland, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 17, 2022) - Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. (TSXV: GMG) (FSE: 0GF) ("GMG " or the "Company") is pleased to advise that the Company has taken a Final Investment Decision ("FID") on Phase 1 of its graphene manufacturing expansion project. The expansion project includes an executed 5 year lease to expand total office and warehouse space to 3,500 square metres, the next generation of the Company's proprietary graphene production technology with enhanced automation, a micro-grid with energy storage component to improve commercial and environmental electricity supply for the production process, and an infrastructure corridor to allow rapid scaling of further graphene manufacturing capacity during future phases of the graphene manufacturing expansion project. The project will be managed and executed by the Company's engineers with Wood engineering (the Company's graphene manufacturing scaling engineering service supplier) providing safety, assurance and design review services.
Following positive potential customer feedback from G+AI battery coin cell prototype testing, and ongoing enhancements to the Company's unique graphene production process, the Company believes enhanced and expanded production facilities are now appropriate.
The lease commitment of the additional new office and warehouse space of 1,500 square metres, which is adjacent to the existing Company leased 2,000 square metre office and warehouse, is intended to accommodate new staff and expand graphene manufacturing capacity.
The Phase 1 expansion project is expected to provide ample graphene supply for the production of the Company's graphene aluminium-ion battery ("G+AI Battery") coin cells, as well as the Company's energy saving liquid graphene products. The total investment of approximately AU$1.5 million is expected to be fully commissioned by first half of 2023. This project was envisaged in the September 2021 market raise but now also includes costs to relocate all of GMG's existing graphene manufacturing capacity adjacent to its new headquarters and Battery Development Centre ("BDC") in Brisbane, Australia.
GMG's Managing Director and CEO, Craig Nicol, commented: "Taking FID on this project is not only a reflection on the level of confidence we have in manufacturing high quality graphene for our applications at scale, it's also a reflection of our confidence to commercialise energy savings and energy storage applications in the near term. It is very pleasing to see that we are now scaling up our graphene manufacturing capacity using the propriety process that we developed ourselves since 2017."
A potential subsequent FID for further expanded graphene production which is expected to be located in the new warehouse space, will be considered upon the maturing of targeted commercialisation opportunities for either the Company's G+AI Battery and energy saving liquid graphene products. The newly leased site is expected to have enough space to enable multiple such increases of production.
By increasing the use of solar power, co-generation and energy storage systems, electricity supply will be largely self-sufficient and achieve a lower carbon emissions footprint for the production facility.
About GMG
GMG is a clean-technology company which seeks to offer energy saving and energy storage solutions, enabled by graphene, including that manufactured in-house via a proprietary production process.
GMG has developed a proprietary production process to decompose natural gas (i.e. methane) into its elements, carbon (as graphene), hydrogen and some residual hydrocarbon gases. This process produces high quality, low cost, scalable, 'tuneable' and low/no contaminant graphene suitable for use in clean-technology and other applications. The Company's present focus is to de-risk and develop commercial scale-up capabilities, and secure market applications.
In the energy savings segment, GMG has focused on graphene enhanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning ("HVAC-R") coating (or energy-saving paint), lubricants and fluids. In the energy storage segment, GMG and the University of Queensland are working collaboratively with financial support from the Australian Government to progress R&D and commercialization of graphene aluminium-ion batteries ("G+AI Batteries").
For further information, please contact:
- Craig Nicol, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Company at craig.nicol@graphenemg.com, +61 415 445 223
- Leo Karabelas at Focus Communications, info@fcir.ca , +1 647 689 6041
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends", "expects" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or will "potentially" or "likely" occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward‐looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things: the FID on Phase 1 and a subsequent second phase of the manufacturing plant expansion project; Wood's participation in the expansion project; the timing and cost of completion of Phase 1; the enhancements to the production facility stemming from the completion of Phase 1 and subsequent phases; the ability of the expansion project to provide adequate graphene to produce G+AI battery coin cells and liquid graphene products; the production, commercialisation, scaling, quality and application of G+AI battery coin cell and theCompany's energy saving liquid graphene products; and the impact, use and capability of the expanded facility.
These forward‐looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to uncertain demand for the Company's products, the effectiveness of Company's deployment of resources, including its personnel, the intention of the Company to develop and produce certain products, that the Company will not be successful in expanding the production facility as expected, uncertainty regarding costs of expanding the facility, that the results of the expanded facility will not be aligned with management's expectations, and that the production, commercialisation, scaling, quality and application of the G+AI battery coin cell and theCompany's energy saving liquid graphene products will differ from expectations.
In making the forward looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, assumptions regarding the deployment of the Company's resources and personnel, that the Company will be able to expand the production facility as expected, the accuracy of the Company's expectations in relation to the effect of the Phase 1 and further expansion, and its impact on the production, commercialisation, scaling, quality and application of the Company's products.
Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.
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