I also agree that I don't think it will be Tesla purchasing the deposit, however it should be pointed out that it would be a tremendous way to significantly reduce input costs. If done properly, they could operate Albany as a profit centre and the cost to produce their annual requirement could actually be a credit.

For example, let's say Tesla requires 50K tons of graphite per year. Over a 20 year period, they would require 1,000,000 tons. If they paid 1B for Zen plus 200M capex, total cost would be 1.2B or $1200/ton (remember they do not need 1.4Mt).......probably only 10%-15% of what they pay now for graphite. If they then sold an additional 20K/tons on the market @ 10k/ ton they would generate an additional 200M per year in cash flow (actually a credit if operating costs below $200m per year). This entire operation could be self funding and reduce their input cost (on graphite) to 10-15% or less of what they are currently paying......talk about cost savings!!

Each electric vehicle requires up to 100kg of graphite, moving from 10,000/ton to 1200/ton would save $850-880 per vehicle, which is a huge savings. Remember their stated obejective is to reduce battery costs.

Something to note as well, according to Archer, there are currently 42 brands that either have a hybrid or EV either in development or being produced. There will be huge increasing demand for battery grade graphite away from Tesla. My guess for a logical take out partner would be a company like Hitachi. As we know, they produce the anodes for Panasonic batteries but they are also developing a turn-key solution for the pebble bed nuclear reactor market as well. We already know Albany graphite already meets or exceed many of the nuclear requirements....would be an natural extension for them.

Good educational piece from them highlighting high end uses for graphite.

http://www.archerexploration.com.au/assets/pdfs/AXEGraphite120919.pdf

Food for thought.

Quincey