Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. Announces Name Change to ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd.
Thunder Bay, January 15, 2019 - Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) ("ZEN" or the "Company") is pleased to announce 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.
For further information:
Brian Bosse, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +1 (705) 618-0900
Email: bbosse@zenyatta.ca
To find out more on ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd., please visit our website at www.ZENGraphene.com. A copy of this news release and all material documents in respect of the Company may be obtained on ZEN's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.ca.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: ZEN has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment regarding the Albany Project (the "PEA") in support of its development work (see Zenyatta news release of 1 June 2015). The PEA is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Without a formal independent feasibility study, there is no assurance that operations will be economically viable.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward looking information and ZEN cautions readers that forward looking information is based on certain assumptions and risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations of ZEN included in this news release. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements", which often, but not always, can be identified by the use of words such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". These statements are based on information currently available to ZEN and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements with respect to ZEN's future plans, objectives or goals, to the effect that ZEN or management expects a stated condition or result to occur, including the expected timing for release of a pre-feasibility study, the expected uses for graphite in the future, and the future uses of the graphite from ZEN's Albany deposit. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of exploration, metallurgical processing, project development, reclamation and capital costs of ZEN's mineral properties, and ZEN's financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as, but are not limited to: failure to identify mineral resources; failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves; the inability to complete a pre-feasibility study; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; the inability to enter into offtake agreements with qualified purchasers; delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals; political risks; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of projects; capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and those risks set out in ZEN's public documents filed on SEDAR. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of ZEN's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on ZEN's forward-looking statements. Although ZEN believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. ZEN disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.