Thunder Bay, ON - February 21, 2019, ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (“ZEN” or the “Company”) (TSXV:ZEN) is pleased to provide an update on the Albany Graphite Project tailings test work for potential application as a partial cement replacement material recently initiated at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan Campus (“UBC-O”). Please see the Company’s news release dated December 17, 2018).
This test work is being carried out as part of the Company’s market development strategy with the goal of utilizing the tailings as a partial cement replacement. Early results show promise and if successful would reduce tailings disposal costs and create a potential by-product revenue stream. In addition, ZEN will also be initiating new research test work where Albany graphene will be added to project tailings material to potentially create an innovative new enhanced cement material and concrete that could have higher strength, faster curing time and increased durability as well as significant environmental benefits through reduced CO2 emissions.
Francis Dubé Co-CEO of ZEN commented “Cement production from limestone is a significant source of CO2 emissions accounting for approximatively 8% of global emissions. Every ton of cement that we can replace with our tailings material would potentially save up to approximately one ton of CO2 emissions.”
The research work is being conducted by Dr. Ahmad Rteil at UBC-O where ZEN’s tailings material was successfully tested as a partial cement replacement. Dr. Rteil replaced 10 and 20 percent of a cement mixture with ZEN’s tailings material and after 28 days, the results showed the 10% replacement had a compressive strength rating of 46.1 MPa, less than a 2% difference from the control at 47 MPa. The 20% replacement had a compressive strength rating of 37.9 MPa, about 20% difference with the control sample.
These results are significant as currently most of the concrete used by the construction industry (e.g. for low and mid-rise buildings, bridge decks, foundations, etc.) has a compressive strength requirement ranging between 20 MPa and 40 MPa. These highly encouraging initial and unoptimized results show significant promise for ZEN to push forward with further development work. The Company now plans further tests that will optimize the use of Albany Graphite tailings as a partial cement replacement including the potential of adding ZEN graphene to the tailings material.
Dr. Rteil stated, “These results are very promising. Partially replacing cement with tailings materials could have a significant financial and environmental impact on the concrete industry by being able to deliver a better product while reducing its carbon footprint.”
About ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd.
ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. is an emerging graphene technology solutions company with a focus on development of the unique Albany Graphite Project as a precursor graphene material product opportunity and product market development. The Albany Graphite Project provides the company with a competitive advantage in the potential graphene market as independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada have demonstrated that ZEN’s Albany Graphite/Naturally PureTM easily converts (exfoliates) to graphene, using a variety of simple mechanical and chemical methods.
For further information:
Francis Dubé, Co-Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +1 (289) 821-2820 
Email: fdube@zenyatta.ca |
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