Once formed, the alliance intends to develop patents and figure out global rights for applications of graphite, which is commonly used in steelmaking, solar panel manufacturing and lithium-ion batteries.
Focus stocks rose to $1.19 each on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up four cents.
“For the layperson, while diamonds are a coveted jewellery allotrope of carbon, graphene is very much the game-changing allotrope of carbon achieving recent accolades such as the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics,” stated Gordon Chiu, who was appointed to be the venture’s managing director and chief scientist.
“As a combination, it is potentially more applicable than copper because when graphene is mixed into plastics, the resultant material turns into a conductor of electricity while being more heat resistant and mechanically robust.”
The venture will be based in New York City. Beyond stating that detail, Focus did not disclose any financial details or when the agreement is expected to close.
According to Focus, the junior mining firm has one of the world’s highest concentrations of natural graphite at its property in Lac Knife, Que.