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Great Lakes Graphite Pursues US Department of Defense Opportunities
Great Lakes Graphite Pursues US Department of Defense Opportunities.
About this update from Great Lakes Graphite Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"\nTORONTO, July 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Great Lakes Graphite Inc., doing business as NovoCarbon Corporation, (“GLK”, “NovoCarbon” or the “Company”) (TSX-V:GLK) (OTCQB:GLKIF) (FWB:8GL) today announces that the Company is pursuing graphite-related business opportunities from the US Department of Defense.\n Highlights Graphite-related opportunities from the US Department of Defense have been identified.High level meetings related to one of the opportunities was conducted earlier this year.NovoCarbon is well positioned to fulfill a domestic requirement for battery grade graphite. US Government Strategy to Secure Critical Minerals Creates Business Development Opportunities The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is the procurement are of the US Department of Defense (DOD) and has been tasked with addressing a requirement to strengthen the supply chains for a number of critical minerals, including graphite. The following excerpt from a recent DLA Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) describes the requirement: “The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is seeking to identify a domestic capability that demonstrates the ability to source and manufacture battery-grade graphite, both natural and synthetic. Specialty refined and upgraded graphite is a critical input material in multiple supply chains of the DLA. Graphite is an integral component in batteries (lithium-ion, alkaline, lithium primary and reserve types), conductive coatings, refractories, brake systems, lubricants, paints, powdered metal compounds and other critical parts. Defense weapon systems use various strategic and critical materials of which there is very limited domestic production of these materials and therefore a risk of foreign reliance.” The BAA (DLA-18-BAA-RIF-0002) called for interested parties to respond by submitting white papers, which were due in early May. White papers are evaluated by the DLA and submitters who successfully meet the criteria to proceed will be invited to submit a full proposal. Proposals will be evaluated by the DLA and form the basis for one or more contract awards.  The financial support for this BAA comes from the Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) which serves a number of Federal entities: “The Rapid Innovation Fund provides a collaborative vehicle for small businesses to provide the department wi...