Hello Mark,

Recycling of NaOH could be a very important factor in NaOH usage, but I did not discuss it further for fear that others would consider that as pushing it too much. I would leave it for the consultants who put together the PEA to sort out, since by that time they would have enough information from the tests.

The recycling possibilty is real, since in the Aluminium industry NaOH is also used in the Bayer process for refining Bauxite into Alumina (Aluminium Oxide)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_process

Recyling of NaOH is also mentioned.

So we wait for the PEA to come out to see if the recycling factor is significant which would drop the 25% (or ~10%, if the feed purity is higher) NaOH by wt requirement to something smaller. For example, a factor of 2 would drop the material (NaOH) cost from $100/t to $50/t. In my opinion, $50-100/t would be low enough compared to the all-in cash cost to achieve graphite purity >99.x% which would fetch ~$4000-8000/t (more would be gravy, but it would be "too risky" to push it beyond $10,000/t).

If the all-in cash cost is not prohibitive, say ~$2000/t (even $3000/t, if the price is ~$8000/t), then the profit margin would be acceptable (economical enough). But, this is for discussion purposes only, at least for myself, to have some basis for an educated guess, rather than pulling a number from thin air.

Master Po said: "Patience young grasshopper". The PEA is coming.

goldhunter