WOW, Funkstuff… that is a mouthful of questions!

I will try my best to answer them…(My answers are Bold and Underline)

Regards,

Bernard Tourillon
CEO

 1) Are we still running tests to date, or have we taken another break? 

The short answer is not right now; we are awaiting lab results before deciding our next tests.

2) Do the objectives remain the same?

·      Increasing the Yield1 and the Production Yield2 of the Gen2 PUREVAP™ above test #14 results;

Not that much, but we have identified one of the key factor affecting the yield. 

While that result was a major finding, very important for our work moving forward, it is not material so we have not published anything yet.

·      Testing the Purity of the Si produced using ICP-OES3 from both our low purity feed stock (98.84% SiO2) and specifically sourced ultra high purity feed stock (> 99.9% SiO2);

Yes, that is still one of our goals, but testing is presently focused on validating key hypothesis published last year.

·      Finding the optimum operation conditions for the Gen2 PUREVAP™ and gaining information about future Gen3 PUREVAP™ operation.

The bulk of our work was focussed on that goal.

What I can say is that until the last possible minute, PyroGenesis engineers were incorporating information gain from the Gen2 testing to the Gen3 design and construction.

3) What progress has been made that isn't necessarily material but has shown positive results?

All progress is either material or confidential. The key point is that our results are confirming the hypothesis that the Purevap process is truly a 2.0 Carbothermic process (patent pending), which will permit the transformation and purification of quartz (SiO2) into high purity silicon metal (Si) in one step.

What do we know we can and cannot do from tests to date?

What we know is that our process is more efficient than all the other commercial available process to transform quart into Silicon metal. The Silicon Metal market needs us to validate this at pilot scale before getting excited.

As far as what we cannot do, that depends on your timeline.  At this stage, we do not know what will be the upper limit of the purity we can reach. 

That answer can only be answered during the pilot plant-testing phase.

What we do know is that there already exists pathways for us to transform our Purevap Silicon Metal to Solar Grade Si (SoG-Si) and what make these pathways economical is the incredible capacities of the PUREVAP process.

It was also mentioned that there was a particular element/ impurity left in the PUREVAP refined high purity silicon that if removed, could give us solar grade silicon. It seemed as if in the long term PYR engineers will tackle the impurity but was up for debate while you were in Europe.

This is a question of timeline and cost, with time and money, I have no worries that we (PyroGenesis) will find a way to remove that impurity during the Purevap part of the process. 

The question we are struggling with is, do we wait until perfection to go into commercial production, or do we start now planning for commercial production using the pathway I just mention, understanding that we have to design our systems so that at a later stage we can upgrade and improve our process?

4) Will this impurity be pursued by PYR engineers to be removed by the PUREVAP process in the near term Gen2 testing or will this be a longer term goal, adding other known processes on to the end of the PUREVAP process to achieve solar grade silicon?

See answer above 

5) If other known industry processes are needed (e.g. Czochralski Process, directional solidification, silicon doping) after PUREVAP processing to attain Solar Grade Silicon, can you share what processes they are?

Potentially, all of the above, and maybe some others that we prefer to keep confidential, but what we are discovering is that Purevap first stage efficiency affects positively the relevant cost of all these processes.

As all quartz deposits hold slightly different elemental compositions from each other and other large quartz deposit holders have been eyeing us;

6) How far has PYR knowledge come in understanding the different quartz structures, do they have full control over removing the different levels of impurities in different quartz?

The Purevap was designed from the start to deal with these differences, so we do not see that as a problem.  Having identified one of the key factors affecting our yield, choosing the right quartz is not that big of an issue. 

7) Have we tested any 3rd party quartz (from large quartz deposit holders) in the Gen2 PUREVAP reactor at their request and expense? 

If that would be the case, the work would be covered by NDA, so I would not be able to comment.

 Lastly; 

8) Have we produced 40g+ of high purity silicon feedstock from Gen2 to give to Apollon and test for solar capability? If not, is this a plan? 

Not yet, as I mention before, we are more focus on getting data for the pilot plant, but that could been look at later, but presently we are working more on building potential financial models to answer our key question about future plans.

 A little Scrooge Mcduck laugh comes out of me everytime I watch your last interview at the 17min mark and also when you say under your breath how we could charge these quartz deposit holders 20x the price of the first PUREVAP commercial plant without any worldwide exclusivity, who are willing to put forward 50m for the first commercial PUREVAP plant but want WW rights/exclusivity. Sounds like big plans are coming to HPQ and I am proud to be apart of it from it's beginning.

Right now we are getting multiple approaches from Quart property holders looking at a way of increasing the value of their deposits.  We are polite with them, but we understand that now is not the right time for us to look at potential partnerships, and this even if they have access to capital.  We are waiting to have the pilot plant working before looking at that.

Thank you for the opportunity to ask these questions and for your time.