Mr. Ryan Shacklock reports

ZENTEK SUBSIDIARY ALBANY GRAPHITE CORP. SIMPLIFIES PROCESS TO ACHIEVE FIVE NINES PURITY

Zentek Ltd.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Albany Graphite Corp. (AGC) has achieved a preliminary five-nines purity of 99.9991 per cent directly from a larger Albany graphite deposit flotation concentrate sample utilizing an operational pilot-scale fluidized bed reactor (FBR).

Highlights

• Ultrahigh-purity five-nines 99.9991 wt. per cent from a platinum crucible loss on ignition (LOI) analysis;
• Purification was performed utilizing an existing pilot-scale FBR directly on an approximately 950-gram sample of the Albany flotation concentrate (85-per-cent total graphitic carbon (TGC)) with no intermediate hydrometallurgical steps;
• Preliminary proof-of-concept electrothermal purification testing using an FBR yielded extremely low total impurities concentration of nine ppm (parts per million) (LOI) against the generally accepted maximum of 500 ppm for most advanced battery applications;
• Zentek will continue to test the material for suitability as an anode component for lithium-ion batteries and its potential use in nuclear industry applications;
• The company will continue to explore both production and processing of graphite to create a battery-ready anode active and cathode conductivity enhancement materials.

Thermal purification testing -- fixed-bed furnace

Following Zentek's July 17, 2024, press release, AGC, in collaboration with its Canadian technology partners, has continued to develop a viable thermal purification process to produce a consistent ultrahigh-purity graphite material. A second sample of the homogenized bulk flotation concentrate produced by SGS Canada Inc. during the 2017 flotation pilot plant campaign was upgraded from approximately 85-per-cent TGC to over 96-per-cent TGC using a small pilot hydrometallurgical process with standard metallurgical equipment. A 100-gram sample of the greater than 96 per cent TGC feed was then thermally purified in a fixed-bed furnace under the same conditions as before (2,700 degrees for five minutes in an argon atmosphere). A 10 g sample of the purified material was subsequently shipped to Eurofins EAG Laboratories for a full 72-element GDMS analysis. The concentrations of all elements above the detection limits (25 of the 72 total) were summed to yield the total concentration of the detectable impurity elements that remained in the purified sample at 11.61 ppm wt. or 0.00116 per cent wt. yielding a purity of 99.99884 per cent wt. The boron concentration in the sample was 1.8 ppm wt.

Thermal purification testing -- fluidized bed reactor

More recently, Zentek contracted a highly reputable North American manufacturing company specializing in industrial graphite and carbon to explore the direct purification of Albany flotation concentrate (approximately 85 per cent TGC) using its proprietary continuous processing equipment. Zentek supplied a one-kilogram sample of the homogenized bulk flotation concentrate which was characterized, aggregated into 3-D particles and then run in a pilot-scale FBR. The feed material was thermally purified utilizing their proprietary process. A platinum crucible LOI analysis conducted at 950 degrees on a sample of the purified material indicated an ash content of 0.0009 wt. per cent corresponding to a purity of 99.9991 wt. per cent. Notably, the manufacturing company reported that the Albany material was easily purified to an ultrahigh-purity level without the use of chlorine gas or any other halogen gases that are commonly used for graphite purification when 5N nuclear purity levels need to be achieved.

Next steps

The FBR purified material will be characterized and submitted to Eurofins EAG Laboratories for a full 72-element GDMS analysis to determine which impurities are present in the ultrahigh-purity sample.

The FBR purification process will be optimized for Albany graphite followed by a techno-economic analysis.

The material will continue to be evaluated for its suitability for both the lithium-ion battery and nuclear markets. This will require postprocessing of thermally purified graphite and its testing in battery cells, and against the specifications of commercially available nuclear industry graphite material.

With significant investment being made in the North American battery supply chain, and growing demand for finished anode material, the company is exploring the production of a consistent ultrahigh-purity graphite product from the Albany deposit for the manufacture of a competitive battery-ready anode material.

The CEO of Zentek and Albany Graphite Corp., Greg Fenton, commented: "This is a significant and exciting step in the Albany project development. The purification of the Albany flotation concentrate directly to five-nines purity will simplify the purification flow sheet further by eliminating any intermediate hydrometallurgical upgrading steps."

Peter Wood, PEng, PGeo, vice-president, development, of AGC, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the technical information contained in this news release.

Overview of the Albany graphite project

The Albany graphite project, an igneous-hosted fluid-derived graphite deposit located in Claim Block 4F, comprising 521 mining claims (461 single-cell claims and 60 boundary-cell claims) is at an advanced exploration stage. The project is located west of the communities of Constance Lake First Nation (CLFN) and Hearst, Ont., within 30 km of the Trans-Canada Highway, close to established infrastructure including roads, rail, power transmission lines and a natural gas pipeline. Project environmental baseline studies were initiated in 2019.

About Zentek Ltd.

Zentek is an ISO 13485:2016-certified intellectual property technology company focused on the research, development and commercialization of novel products seeking to give the company's commercial partners a competitive advantage by making their products better, safer, and greener.

Zentek's patented technology platform ZenGUARD is shown to have enhanced viral filtration efficiency for surgical masks and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems. Zentek's ZenGUARD production facility is located in Guelph, Ont.

Zentek has a global exclusive licence to the Aptamer-based platform technology developed by McMaster University which is being jointly developed Zentek and McMaster for both the diagnostic and therapeutic markets.

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