THUNDER BAY – BUSINESS – Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. (“ZEN” or the “Company”) (TSXV:ZEN) has announced that it has obtained TSX Venture Exchange approval and has changed its name from “Zenyatta Ventures Ltd.” to “ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd.” effective January 16, 2019. The name change reflects the Company’s decision to focus its development plans for the Albany Graphite Project on the graphene nano-material product opportunity.
Graphene is emerging as the most promising new material in modern times for enhancing the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of materials used in a broad range of industrial applications. New innovations are being announced by researchers around the world on a regular basis with market demand for graphene growing rapidly. In 2017, there were a total of 13,371 patent filings about graphene worldwide, an upsurge of 30.7% over the previous year. The global graphene market size stood at roughly US$85 million in 2017, before growing to nearly US$200million in 2018. It is now forecast to reach US$1 billion in size by 2023 as new applications are developed and implemented according to a report published by Research and Markets in November, 2018.
The unique genesis and microcrystalline structure of the high-purity Albany Graphite mineralization gives ZEN a significant competitive advantage in producing mono-layer to few-layer graphene that is in the highest demand. Furthermore, in a recent study by Tokyo Tech, researchers concluded that, due to the size and characteristics of its flakes, the exfoliation productivity of Albany Graphite performed up to 1500% better than the researchers’ reference flake graphite materials (see October 2018 news release). The Company is presently assessing the various graphene conversion methods developed within its network of collaborative research partners with the goal of defining various scalable, low-cost, low-energy and environmentally friendly production methods.
In the near future, ZEN plans to source the appropriate equipment required for graphene production and begin working with its partners on new technology development. The name change is the next logical step for ZEN to clearly signal to its future customers and investors its commitment to becoming a global leader in graphene technology. Interestingly, ZEN was included in the National Graphene Association’s “Top 10 Graphene Companies of 2018” based on the number of posts written about it on Graphene-info.
In conjunction with the name change, the Company’s new CUSIP number will be 98935P108 and the ISIN number will be CA98935P1080. The Company’s trading symbol will remain as “ZEN”.
Non-Brokered Flow-Through Offering
The Company also announces that 353,250 finders warrants were distributed by the Company in connection with the Company’s previously announced private placement of flow-through common shares that closed on December 21, 2019. These warrants will be subject to a hold period until April 22, 2019 in accordance with applicable securities laws.
