Graphano Energy: Kann ein Explorer die Nordamerika-Lieferkette drehen?

Wir sprechen mit Luisa Moreno, CEO von Graphano Energy, über Graphit als kritischen Rohstoff und warum Quebec für eine nordamerikanische Lieferkette so attraktiv ist. Wir gehen durch Ressource, Metallurgie, Nachbarschaft zur bestehenden Aufbereitung und erklären, weshalb am Ende Genehmigungen den Zeitplan zur Produktion bestimmen. 
• Werdegang von Luisa Moreno von Investment Banking bis CEO und Beraterin 
• Graphano als Junior-Mining-Unternehmen mit Graphit-Projekten in Quebec 
• Kriterien für Wettbewerbsvorteile: Ressource, Metallurgie, Infrastruktur, Entwicklungsrisiko 
• High Grades und oberflächennahe Mineralisierung als Kostentreiber nach unten 
• Strategische Bedeutung der Nähe zur einzigen produzierenden Graphitmine in Nordamerika 
• Updates zu LAB, Standard und Black Pearl inklusive Ressourcenstatus 
• NI-43-101 Konformität, Aufwertung von Inferred zu Indicated und Measured als Weg zur Machbarkeitsstudie 
• Marktqualität und Vermarktbarkeit durch regionale Produktionshistorie 
• Zusammenarbeit mit Northern Graphite: Daten, Labore, Tests, mögliche Produktions- und Gewinnteilungsmodelle 
• Private Placement und Mittelverwendung für Geophysik, Bulk Sample und Metallurgie 
• Wichtigste Faktoren für den Erfolg: Permitting, ESG-Anforderungen, politische Beschleunigungswege 
• Risiken bei Junior-Minern und warum Graphitpreisbewegungen oft stabiler sind 
• Downstream-Potenzial Richtung Batteriequalität und weitere industrielle Anwendungen 
• Meilensteine und Szenarien für die nächsten 12 bis 24 Monate sowie Investorenfokus auf Risiko-Upside-Profil 

Transcript

Begrüßung von CEO Luisa Moreno

Aktientalk 0:00

Herzlich willkommen zu einer neuen Ausgabe from Aktien Talk. We have the heißen Tages genutzt anders interviewt mit dem Unternehmen Graphano Energy and their CEO, Luisa Moreno. Louisa, your resume is quite impressive. In addition to your work as the CEO and board member of various prominent companies, you are also on demand as an expert advisor to the government in Uganda, when I'm right. Please give us a brief overview of your professional career and your involvement also in Africa.

Werdegang von Luisa Moreno und Ihre Arbeit In Uganda

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 0:37

Thank you. Thank you for having me. So my my background uh is uh investment banking. So I was an analyst uh back in 2010, uh covering what I think everybody now knows, uh critical materials. So I covered graphite, I covered lithium, and many other uh critical metals. And um and so when I left um investment banking, I created Tahuri Global, which is my consulting company, and is the vehicle that I use to advise uh uh companies, uh large companies as well as smaller ones, investors, and governments. So I am an advisor uh to the president of Uganda. Uh so I spend a little bit of time in um in Africa. And Uganda, for uh those that are not familiar, is right next door to the DRC. You know, and we know DRCE has many of these critical materials. And uh Uganda just happened to have a similar, a similar geology. So uh I'm helping the government um you know to attract more investors. So in addition to that, I am my full-time job, I guess, is a CEO of Graphano, which I enjoy doing. But um really my background uh assessing companies uh really helps me with my function as a CEO uh for Graphano. So it's it's good fun.

Was Graphano in Quebec macht

Aktientalk 2:05

Talking about Graphano, that's uh the company what we are talking about today. Give us a little bit of a little overview about Graphano and um what is the company exactly doing?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 2:17

So Graphano um is a junior mining company. It has uh a number of claims uh at exploration and development stage for for graphite, hence the name Graphano, right? Um and so we we are in Quebec, which is um uh traditionally a very good uh jurisdiction for mining in Canada. So we are um currently uh we have a resource uh for some of our assets, and we are trying to accelerate it as fast as we can to production.

Wettbewerbsvorteile durch Northern Graphite

Aktientalk 2:54

Where do you see Graphano's strongest competitive advantages compared to other graphite junior mining companies?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 3:02

So when um when investors look at investing in critical materials or mining, say, uh, there are a number of things that they usually should be looking for. You know, and I don't want to be too theoretical, uh, but as an analyst, you can imagine that was a job that I had for a number of years, ranking companies. Actually, as a stock analyst, I had to assess them and give them evaluation. So for investors looking at Graphano and to understand the competitive advantage, they need to be looking at the resource. For strategic materials, looking at metallurgy is extremely important, sometimes even more important than resource. Assessing the infrastructure and ultimately the development risk of the company. So, in terms of resource, the first one, um, we have uh one of the highest grades uh in the country, um, in the region, but also in the country, in Canada, in North America, period. Um, the the the the the sort of uh our average grade for our resource is about 7%, which is relatively high compared to our some of our other peers. Um most of our resource is right from the surface, um, which basically means lower costs. And in terms of metallurgy, we also have relatively uh lower risk there. Um we are in a region which is known for production. Actually, one of our sites is historical, two of them actually have historical mines, uh, which means they were produced and processed and sold to the market. Our next door neighbor has a processing plant, very similar metallurgy, and our preliminary metallurgy actually shows very good results. So, in terms of resource, low risk, metallurgy also low risk, and infrastructure is uh fantastic. Um, you know, so we have very we have power, we have uh we have water, uh, we have very roads, you know, actually perhaps too close, just a couple uh meters away. And so that all comes together as a very low development risk. Compared to our peers, many of them are in isolated places just to start the project. Some of them need like a hundred million dollar roads and things like that. So uh we are in very good jurisdiction and relatively low risk compared to our peers.

Bedeutung für Lieferkette in Nordamerika

Aktientalk 5:25

And uh, how strategically important are your Quebec assets within the global supply, landscape, program feed, and battery materials?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 5:34

It's extremely important.

Aktientalk 5:35

You talked about an important neighbor, right? You talked about the neighbor.

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 5:40

Yes, so we we do have our neighbors, which is uh Lord and Raphaite. They have the Lactas Lactazil mine, is the mine that's been in production for more than 30 years. And unfortunately, they're running out of ore, right? So they need feed. So we are very strategic to them. We have an agreement with them to supply the feed, a development agreement where they support us also. Um, and so strategically, we are very, very well positioned to supply to their to that uh to that mine. So um just to answer your question in terms of how important it is for the supply chain in North America and the western part of the world, it's it's extremely important because that mine that is right next door to us is uh is the only producing mine in in North America.

Projekte und Bohrfortschritte im Überblick

Aktientalk 6:27

And can you provide us an update on the current exploration and development activities across your properties?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 6:33

Yes. Uh so we have uh three key assets. One we call it Lab, L A B, which stands for La Corbeul, um, and the other one is standard, and we have now what we call the black pearl or pearl noir in French, which is a new discovery. So, what we have done in all of them, um, so starting with lab, we did the geophysics, uh, some prospecting, follow up, you know, some of the targets, and then we did we drilled and we have uh we have a resource. Um, you know, it's um it's about 1.3 million tons and at about 7%, as I as I indicated earlier. And so the other one is standard. We did the same thing. Uh we did the airborne geophysics and ground geophysics, we follow up with prospecting, and we were able to establish a resource as well. Um, we have um, and then um black pearl um is uh so for standard, sorry, we have about two million tons at 7%. So Black Pearl, we did prospecting, uh geophysics, both airborne, we just completed the airborne uh geophysics, like fantastic results really. Um and um and and and and now the next step is for for drilling, additional drilling. We did some pros uh exploration drilling, and then we're going to do more drilling on those. So um, you know, a lot of uh potential to increase our resource.

NI-43-101 Ressource und nächste Studien

Aktientalk 8:03

And uh are you gonna prove it by an updated NI-43101 compliant resource estimate? And if yes, would that change Graphano's valuation profile?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 8:15

That's a good question. So we already have done that. So we had a historical resource um at Lab uh or LACO Bouillot, which we then upgraded. Um and as I said, um we had about 1.3 million tons there uh at 7%. Uh so those LA Bouillot is very interesting because we have different zones, and this is the way um, let's say the deposit occurs. You know, in certain parts of uh of Quebec and Canada, you will find disseminated resource, lower grade, 3%, 4%. Um and um and there's like very, very large resources. Here you'll find different pits and and and and just smaller, more contained, higher grade resource. So in lab, we have eight zones. Of those eight zones, we only investigated about three of them, uh, plus the pit. And um and so we have found a resource already, which is already compliant, NI-4311. Uh so we also did that for standards. The resources and the numbers I'm telling you, they're all compliant. For Black Pearl, which is a new discovery, that's where we need to drill and um and find a new a new resource. But what we will do, um we will look to upgrade some of the inferred resource into uh a higher category uh of confidence, which is the indicated and measure. That will then help us to go into a feasibility study. But we expect to do that hopefully by the end of this year, early next year. Because right now, what we're doing is we more focus on um you know bulk sample and metallurgy and things like that.

Aktientalk 9:59

And how would you characterize the quality and marketability of the graphite found at your properties?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 10:05

Uh as I said, as I alluded earlier, Marcus, um, because we are in a region that uh historically has been producing graphite, I will characterize our graphite as market ready. Um so we have a similar geology to our neighbors, which are really just a kilometer away from us, uh very similar um mineralogy, lithology. Uh, and so our results, preliminary mythological results, show that um suggest that uh we have you know good quality flake graphite, clean, um good purity. So I think given the the background and the history of the region, um we we are likely to have very good um graphite as well.

Partnerschaft Mit Northern Graphite

Aktientalk 10:56

I have to come back to to the point with northern graphite because I think it's a very important point. How do you see the strategic collaboration with northern graphite, enhancing grafano's development timeline, and especially given that uh Graphano's standard properties are contiguous with northern producing lacteal mine?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 11:16

Yeah, so um our our Lacoblio mine, uh, you know, if if if if investors go online, they can see that picture. It's it's just you know, it's it's just a continuation. Uh our mineralization is a continuation of theirs. We just write next door. Um and so there is um there is good collaboration uh that uh we have uh with with our neighbors. So we share our data with them. Um they they will share their expertise in terms of um just helping us help to find more of the good graphite, uh, process it. And um and yeah, so it's uh we are very fortunate to be able to have them uh so close. And of course they have understanding of the mineralogy in in the region and they are sharing that uh with us.

Aktientalk 12:07

And and can you elaborate uh on the potential for future joint initiatives with Northographite, such as a shared resource modeling, metallurgical testing, or even production sharing arrangements?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 12:18

Yes, so yes, so so um all of that, as you just alluded to, is is uh is part of the of the agreement. So we will be able to um we have showed them uh our initial results. Metallurgy, they also have their own labs, um, and so we'll be sending um material to them to process. Hopefully, we'll be able to, once we extract the bulk sample, to run a large sample through their plant as well. Um and but nevertheless, we are doing our own independent studies as well, because we want to be able to understand it. Um, but we are working very close with them. So once we reach a decision point of mining, um then uh yes, that is a production charity agreement where after costs we share profits. And this is going to be tremendous for us, but even better for them as well. Uh, because you know, if they process our material, it means that they don't have to pay royalties.

Aktientalk 13:21

Yeah.

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 13:22

They have many high royalties to their investors. So that is a direct uh benefit for them as well. So they look forward to it.

Aktientalk 13:29

Okay, are there uh any other advantages for Graphano derived from this neighborhood with Northern Graphette?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 13:36

I think I think we we highlighted uh the the main things, right? So it's really their expertise in in metallurgy. Uh the fact that they have a processing plant that we can use, that means you know, no CapEx for us in building that. Uh and it, you know, we can learn from them. So that is that is those those synergies. Um and again, they are also, in a way, all off-takers, right? Because they already have their clients. They they need the ore that we have. Um, so they will be immediately supplying to uh to their existing clients as well, right? So that is not a lot of, I guess, uh stress points for us to be you know rushing to find um you know, end users, the end users are already there. Um, so that that's all benefits for us.

Aktientalk 14:25

Yeah.

Finanzierung Und Einsatz der Mittel

Aktientalk 14:26

Let's talk about a little bit over uh about the financial situation. You recently completed a private placement. How will the funds be allocated and how essential is this financing for your next phases of development?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 14:40

Right. So we have raised, uh we've been raising small amounts of money uh and being very focused on how to use it because uh our market cap is relatively low. And um, although um we have been fortunate to have the attention of investors and interest, um we decided to raise only about last time we raised $350,000. And how are we using that? We use that for the geophysics, the airborne geophysics that we did for Black Pro. Because we had uh identified a conductor which was about um one kilometer, but the geophysics was able to prove that that conductor is there and as well as show us the potential width. And in addition to that large conductor, there were several other ones that were identified. So we can say that that geophysics was successful. So the rest of the funds we're going to use is towards the bulk sample. So for lab and for standard, the other two assets that we already have a resource. We're going to extract a large bulk sample that will help us to understand structurally better the resource that we have, probably you know, do some better drilling as well to upgrade some of our resource to higher uh um you know levels of confidence in our resource. And um and for metallurgy, as I said, we're working with our neighbors to uh upgrade and improve our flow sheet so that we will be market ready uh or production ready when time comes.

Markttreiber, Zölle und Genehmigungen

Aktientalk 16:13

Yeah. And uh what market conditions are most important to Graphanos medium to long-term success out at the uh demand growth, graphite prices, ESG factors, what is it?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 16:27

Um I think the the most important factor for us is really the permitting factor, right? So, as I said, we are we have this collaboration with our neighbors. They need our ore. Um so the market is there because some of your listeners might know that uh the US, which is the it tends to be the largest consumer um of graphite in North America, um, they uh they put in um 160% tariff on China, which is which was the largest um source of graphite in North America. So that just pushed completely the prices of graphite higher, um, you know, making our our graphite or graphite coming from Canada more more competitive. You know, despite the the frictions that uh Canada's been having with the US, um our materials are still cheaper. Um so so that has been that's been very, very, very positive. But the most important aspect for us is really that that that permitting. Uh and once we're able to go through the permitting, we'll be um able to reach production faster. So um that has changed a little bit. Um, and you might put it within the context of ESG. Um and so in Quebec, they have um put a little bit more stringent, uh, you know, maybe maybe stringent is a very strong word, but they've been uh you know, they've they've been requiring more information from mining companies. Um and uh but at the same time, important thing here is that the the government of Canada has open um uh what they call um MPO, um and and that stands for Major Projects Office. And and and that office was built purposely to fast track uh important projects, especially the critical materials ones. So we uh once we gather all the information and we file all that we need to file uh in order to get the permitting, um, we will reach out to the major project office and and ask for assistance to fast track the the permitting so that we can be able to reach production faster. But um, but that that's really it. Uh as I explained, we have the infrastructure, uh, we have a good resource, we have a processing plant next door. Um really reaching permitting um in a timely manner, I think is what's going to really be a game changer for our story and for our for our company.

Typische Junior-Risiken und Preisstabilität

Aktientalk 19:17

Uh junior mining companies are facing the typical risks in in modern days. Are you um others uh are you are you different to these uh junior companies or are you facing the same typical risks like commodity price fatality and uh uncertainties with regulatories? What would you say?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 19:38

Uh I think, I mean, I think it's it's similar in a way. Um, we don't really have much of a commodity risk. I mean, if you look at lithium, for instance, right? Prices of lithium went all the way to 80,000 tons and then it came down to less than 9,000. Uh so there was like a you know 10 times growth, and then it came down again. Uh, we have not seen that with graphite. So, for better or for worse, we have not seen a price going from $1,500 per ton, which is more or less what it is, to $10,500. You know, that has not happened. Graphite is more stable. I think it's it's also because of you know very strong industrial applications. It's like steel and copper. You won't see the 10 times increase in steel. That will that will completely disrupt uh the world economy. So uh in that term, in though in those terms of price stability, it's it's fairly stable. Um, I I think that uh we face similar um challenges, but again, I'll bring uh the permitting uh for us, given that we want to be in production so fast, that is going to be uh our major uh major challenge um that we need to work with the government. And thankfully, we are in Canada, uh, good jurisdiction, geopolitically strong. Um, and uh and there is a lot of um good intention from the government to see more critical materials production because we help. We need to um find uh alternative sources of of production, uh increase our productivity, um, and and the government uh is is working with critical material companies to be able to achieve that.

Downstream, Batteriequalität und neue Anwendungen

Aktientalk 21:26

Yeah. Are you thinking about exploring opportunities to move further down the value chain, such as processing graphite into battery-grade unload material uh material? And if so, what what partnerships are being considered?

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 21:41

Yes, so we definitely want to support that. So uh our neighbors have uh signed up um an agreement. Um uh in I think it was in Saudi Arabia uh last week. There was, I think, the Future Minerals Conference, and uh there was announcements around. that so uh they will need more material and as i said uh they're running out of ore in their mind so our material could potentially feed that that uh that plant but we are having independent discussions in north america to potentially uh build similar supply chains and and and um and yes our our uh our material our uh future mine would given the proximity to production uh potential i think it would be instrumental in in making that happen um that meaning uh a battery battery um uh quality uh material the graphite material for um you know supply the north american and the western uh the western markets so i i think uh definitely uh we are looking into that and we have in discussions uh we looking at different other applications actually just uh outside um the battery world um and so we we look forward to be able to update the market on that and what key milestones could uh can investors expect in the next 12 months and what represent the best case versus the worst case scenario for grafano so in the next uh 12 months uh to in the next 12 months to to to to to 24 months so what we're looking to do the best case scenario in the next two years marcus would be production if we can actually able to produce commercial production that is the best case scenario it is a possibility for us given all the the benefits as I explained uh the worst case scenario is uh for us to be stuck in in high demands or if if permitting rules um become more stringent or if we are not able to um engage successfully with the major project office to help us fast track the permitting so that could be potentially the worst the worst case scenario but the best case scenario in the next two to 24 months is for us to be in production so what we want to do in the next 12 months to make that happen is uh basically as I alluded to earlier getting all the permitting done for the bulk sample uh extract a large sample be able to do sufficient methodological work upgrade our our flow sheet and work with our neighbors to make sure that we have the right type of ore we understand it and and and they understand how to tweak potentially their their plant in order to process our material being able to do that in the next 12 to 18 months in terms of getting enough material to do all that uh flow sheet and processing work is going to be really important for us so that we can uh reach

Meilensteine, Szenarien und Investorenbotschaft

Luisa Moreno (CEO) 24:55

production um you know as soon as possible and and again best case scenario within the next two years yeah that would be good uh what message would you like to give prospective investors who are evaluating Graphano as a potential opportunity what should they pay the most attention to why should they care right so for investors that are looking to invest in mining um specifically those that are interested in um being investing uh or investing rather uh in in critical materials I think um they should consider Graphano because in terms of the risk um and upside we we we have a good strong proposition so we uh in terms of risk we have relatively low resource risk at the surface high grade infrastructure risk is relatively low we have a lot of water uh very good roads very close power just lines crossing our properties we are in a very good jurisdiction which is Canada very low geopolitical risk and in terms of execution um you know we have effectively uh zero capital cost for a processing plant um it's more about the cost of mining development which again um comes with low risk because we are in agreement with an existing graphite producer that is assisting us in the development and future execution of a mine production so relatively to risk of advancing the project um it's it's lower compared to other critical material companies definitely compared to other graphite companies and so now if you look at the upside um you know just looking at the resource that we have the value of the in- situation is over 100 million uh and now our market cap is very small it's like three million you know um so the upside percent potential we can give investors here possibly 10 times the the return uh on investment um other companies graphite companies in Canada they have much higher market caps in the 400s they will not going to go up you know 10 times um not you know in in graphite given the size of graphite markets so we offer low risk of execution and high upside to to to to investors so they should really look at us closely because everything can happen very quickly if our when our permitting happens our timeline to production can happen very quickly so those that are able to get in now um you know can can see potentially very high uh upside uh you know from um on in grafano

Aktientalk 27:56

i'm really looking forward to give my listeners an update of what grafano is doing in the near future so I hope we will talk again and um Luisa thank you for your time