Tokyo Tech Identifies Key Reasons for the Ease & High‐Yield Conversion of Zenyatta’s Albany Graphite

to Graphene

Thunder Bay, Ontario – 19 October 2017 – Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. (“Zenyatta” or “Company”) (TSXV:

ZEN) announces testing results from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (‘Tokyo Tech’) in Japan have

identified key reasons for the ease and high‐yield conversion of Albany graphite to graphene.

One of the greatest challenges for commercializing graphene in various applications, since its discovery

at the University of Manchester, is how to produce high‐quality material, on a large scale at low cost, in

a consistent manner.

Dr. Yoshihiko Arao, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tokyo Tech, stated

“Zenyatta’s high‐purity graphite material was tested by our scientific team on mechanical conversion to

graphene and discovered it converted much easier and with higher yields of graphene than our

reference material. We have tested many types of natural graphite but found Zenyatta’s graphite

material to have better exfoliation performance and produce better graphene particles than the

reference material. We believe that this is an extraordinary, unique material and we would like to carry

out further collaborative work with Zenyatta on graphene applications.”

Research by Dr. Arao and Professor Dr. Masatoshi Kubouchi at Tokyo Tech has shown the following

significant test results:

1. D‐Spacing measurements of Zenyatta carbon material is relatively larger compared to three (3)

other commercially available high purity graphite samples. D‐spacing is unique to all crystals

and described as the distance between two (graphene) atomic layers or interlayer spacing. The

Albany graphite also exhibited some turbostratic structure or natural irregular stacking.

Importantly, these factors have contributed to the ease of conversion and greater yield of high quality

graphene from Albany graphite. This can be attributed to the unusual geologic mode of formation

(igneous hydrothermal process) which accounts for the superior purity, crystallinity and overall quality

of the graphite found in this unique deposit.

2. Graphene exfoliated from Albany graphite showed the highest aspect ratio with an average

thickness of 1.43 nanometres or 1‐4 graphene layers. Also, the optical absorbance of the

Zenyatta graphene dispersion was 2‐10 times better than the other 3 tested reference samples

which demonstrate concentrated graphene dispersion can be obtained.

This further confirms the reason for success on graphene development initiatives, especially in

composites, from other collaborators in UK, Canada, USA and Israel. We have established that

Zenyatta’s graphite converts (exfoliates) easily to graphene, producing mono‐layer to tri‐layer material,

has excellent dispersion properties and is highly suitable for many graphene and graphene‐oxide

applications.

Aubrey Eveleigh, President and CEO for Zenyatta stated, “The obstacle to widespread use of graphene

since discovery is the high manufacturing cost. A lower‐cost and disruptive approach is to use high‐

purity natural graphite, like Albany material, as the starting point to get easier and higher yields of

graphene in an environmentally friendly manner. We are eager to start another phase of testing at a

world class facility like Tokyo Tech using our high‐purity graphite material for various innovative

graphene applications.”

Tokyo Tech is the top national university for science and technology in Japan with a history spanning

more than 130 years. It is the largest institution for higher education dedicated to science and

technology, and is considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in Japan and the world.

Tokyo Tech continues to develop global leaders in the fields of science and technology, and contributes

to the betterment of society through its research, focusing on solutions to global issues. The Institute's

long‐term goal is to become the world's leading science and technology university. Characterization of

Zenyatta’s natural graphite was completed at Tokyo Tech using a conversion of mechanical, liquid phase

exfoliation, followed by testing methods comprised of SEM observation, X‐ray diffraction, Raman

spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical absorbance analysis.

Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. continues to develop its large and unique Albany graphite deposit in Ontario,

Canada. The Company’s highly crystalline graphite deposit is situated 30 km north of the Trans‐Canada

Highway, power line and natural gas pipeline near the communities of Constance Lake First Nation and

Hearst. A rail line is located 30 km away with an all‐weather road approximately 10 km from the

graphite deposit. The world trend is to develop products for technological applications that need

extraordinary performance using ultra‐high purity graphite powder and graphene at an affordable cost.

High‐purity and highly crystalline carbon material is gaining prominence in the cleantech sector at a time

when Zenyatta discovered an extremely rare igneous hosted, fluid derived graphite deposit. Albany

graphite can be upgraded with the optimum particle size without the use of aggressive acids

(hydrofluoric) or high temperature thermal treatment therefore having an environmental advantage

over other types of upgraded high‐purity graphite material.