SPARC TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED ASX ANNOUNCEMENT
29 January 2021
DECEMBER 2020 QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT
HIGHLIGHTS
Sparc Technologies (ASX:SPN) commenced trading on the ASX on 23rd November 2020 following the successful completion of the acquisition of Graphene Technology Solutions and a capital raising of $4m at $0.20 per share
Former ResMed Executive Mr Don Darkin appointed as Strategic Advisor, New Technologies
New bio-medical project to develop non-invasive sensing devices for detection of diseases in both humans and animals via graphene based breath sensors
Establishment of a new bio-medical division to be directed by Mr Ben Yerbury for broader biomedical applications
Test work confirms a range of Sparc graphene additive formulae added to coatings significantly improves anti-corrosive performance
$4.87m cash at bank as at 31 December 2020
Sparc Technologies Limited (ASX: SPN) (Sparc or the Company) is pleased to provide its December 2020 Quarterly Activities Report.
Recommencement of Trading
Sparc recommenced trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on 23 November 2020 following the successful completion of its acquisition via reverse takeover, of emerging South Australian graphene technology developer, Graphene Technology Solutions (GTS).
Sparc will now focus on near-term commercialisation of revolutionary graphene-based, environmentally focused technologies, to enhance and disrupt multi-billion-dollar industries.
The acquisition has seen Sparc's core business transition from coal and mineral exploration to the development and commercialisation of graphene-based products. From GTS, Sparc has inherited strong industry partnerships and government support via the Australian Research Council's Research Hub: Graphene Enabled Industry Transformation Hub in collaboration with the University of Adelaide (UA). One of the world's leading graphene research universities, UA is a cornerstone shareholder of Sparc.
Part of the acquisition process included a Prospectus offering 20 million shares at $0.20 which was underwritten by Morgans Corporate Limited, to raise $4 million. Discovery Capital Partners acted as corporate advisor to the transaction.
Following completion of the listing, Sparc will now leverage its exclusive Licensing, Strategic Partnership and Research Agreement with the University of Adelaide and collaboration agreement within the ARC Graphene
Sparc Technologies Ltd | Issued Capital | Registered Office | Directors |
ACN 009 092 068 | 70.45m Shares | Level 2 480 Collins Street | Stephen Hunt - Executive Chairman |
ASX: SPN | Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia | Tom Spurling - Managing Director | |
E: info@sparctechnologies.com.au | Daniel Eddington - Non-Executive Director | ||
www.sparctechnologies.com.au | |||
Enabled Industry Transformation Hub involving 5 Other Australian leading universities, to develop and commercialise graphene based products and technologies which all have significant environmental and economic benefits with industrial applications across many sectors. The Company has a strong pipeline of other potential graphene applications which it will seek to develop in due course.
Appointment of Strategic Advisor - Don Darkin
On 9 December 2020 Sparc announced the appointment of Mr Don Darkin to the role of Strategic Advisor - New Technologies.
Mr Darkin has a wealth of experience developing new technologies from early-stage research through to commercialisation and has a consistent track record of success. Don is identified as an inventor or co- inventor on 81 granted patents worldwide and has an outstanding track record of success. He was educated in the UK in mechanical engineering and has further professional management training at University of New South Wales and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mr Darkin joined ResMed (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD) in August 1999 as vice president of Product Development and subsequently served as vice president of Business Divisions and senior vice president of Global Product Development. Don's most recent role at ResMed was President of Innovation and Operations, a position he held from 2014-2016. Don remained with ResMed until 2019 in an advisory capacity.
In Mr Darkin's time at ResMed, the Company grew from a market capitalisation of approximately US$400m to in excess of US$30bn1 today, with revenues exceeding US$3bn2. In his roles as President of Innovation, Business Unit and Operations, Mr Darkin was instrumental in delivering a number of pioneering and innovative solutions and new technologies to market.
Graphene Bio-Medical Sensor Project
On 17 December Sparc announced the establishment of a new graphene bio-medical division within the Company to be directed by Mr. Ben Yerbury (Bio Medical Project). Sparc will advance the Project together with its cornerstone shareholder, strategic partner and leading Graphene research centre the University of Adelaide (UA) in order to seek to establish and develop non-invasive sensing devices for use in human and veterinarian applications in order to detect disease.
The focus of the Project will be on research into graphene-based sensing devices for the detection of a selection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in exhaled breath that are understood to be indicators of disease. It is intended that the graphene based bio-medical sensors will be used via integration with existing diagnostic tools or other portable electronic devices such as smart phones to enable real time and portable disease detection.
Detection of VOCs via the use of graphene sensors is a new frontier in rapid, sensitive, selective and non- invasive analysis and disease diagnoses of human and animal disease. If successful, it could have profound global consequences for the early detection and management of disease, especially transmissible acquired diseases, including those caused by bacteria, fungi and viruses, as well as longer term congenital or neoplastic diseases (i.e. cancer).
Graphene, due to its uniquely large surface area and physicochemical properties, enables VOCs to be detected in minute quantities. Sparc will use these properties with the aim of isolating and identifying a selection of specific compounds which are bio-markers for certain diseases.
www.sparctechnologies.com.au
The Project will involve research into graphene-based sensing materials for detection of selected VOCs. Subject to the findings of that work the project will include development/fabrication of lab-scale sensing devices and the initial evaluation of their sensing performances of those selected VOCs. A successful project will provide Sparc with important technology for commercialisation in medical markets.
Sparc was particularly pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Ben Yerbury, Technical Consultant - Biomedical Division to direct the Project on behalf of the Company. Mr Yerbury has over 20-years' experience in the global medical device industry with Fortune 500 organisations including ResMed, Baxter Healthcare, Boston Scientific and Zimmer Biomet. His experience spans a broad range of clinical specialties and technologies across the respiratory and cardiovascular fields to orthopaedics and general surgery, to infusion therapy and nephrology.
Mr Yerbury brings a wealth of experience across Australia and New Zealand, Asia Pacific and European markets and their respective reimbursement models and regulatory environments, which will be invaluable to Sparc's commercialisation and development strategies. Mr Yerbury has direct and wide expertise in launching new, disruptive, technologies and business models to accelerate business growth and build competitive advantages in the medical device industry.
The Project will be encompassed within the existing, exclusive Strategic Partnership Agreement with the University of Adelaide.
Performance Improvement in Graphene Based Coatings
On 14 January 2021 Sparc announced further positive results from its ongoing coatings test work performed with the University of Adelaide. These results delivered another milestone in the development of a range of graphene based additives for use in Marine and Protective Coatings.
Using standardised ISO testing methodology, Sparc evaluated the performance of a range of graphene based additives produced using variations of raw material sources, processing methods and graphene quantities. The current test work addressed adhesion# and scribe corrosion creep* ^.
The work highlighted the performance benefits of graphene additives in general, with a number of the additives generating significant improvement in adhesion and/or scribe creep results at very low graphene additive levels. Improvement in adhesion of up to 19% was observed in single coat systems and reduction in scribe creep of up to 73% in three coat systems.
In the context of Sparc's targeted customer industries, these results represent a potential for substantial cost efficiencies and performance improvements.
Figure 1 below illustrates scribe corrosion creep performance. A lower value indicates better performance. Tests performed on coatings that had a Sparc Graphene additive, showed up to 73% performance improvement in scribe corrosion creep (i.e. less corrosion), when compared to a control coating that did not have graphene.
www.sparctechnologies.com.au
Performance Test Results | ||||||
Scribe Corrosion Creep^ | ||||||
2.5 | ||||||
Creep (mm) | 73% | |||||
2 | ||||||
1.5 | ||||||
Corrosion | ||||||
1 | ||||||
Scribe | ||||||
0.5 | ||||||
0 | ||||||
Control | Sparc Graphene | Sparc Graphene | Sparc Graphene | Sparc Graphene | Sparc Graphene | |
(No Graphene) | Additive 1 | Additive 2 | Additive 3 | Additive 4 | Additive 5 | |
Three Coat Scribe Creep |
Figure 1: Test results showing anti-corrosion performance of coatings with a Sparc Graphene additive.
Lower values demonstrate better performance
Figure 2 illustrates adhesion performance, where a higher value indicates better performance. Tests performed on coatings that had a Sparc Graphene additive, showed up to 19% performance improvement in adhesion, when compared to a control coating that did not have graphene.
Performance Test Results | ||||||
18 | Pull-Off Adhesion# | |||||
16 | 19% | |||||
14 | ||||||
(MPa) | 12 | |||||
10 | ||||||
Adhesion | 8 | |||||
6 | ||||||
4 | ||||||
2 | ||||||
0 | ||||||
Control | Sparc Graphene | Sparc Graphene | Sparc Graphene | Sparc Graphene | Sparc Graphene | |
(No Graphene) | Additive 1 | Additive 2 | Additive 3 | Additive 4 | Additive 5 | |
Single coat, nominal 150 micron film thickness |
Figure 2: Test results showing adhesion performance of coatings with a Sparc Graphene additive.
Higher values demonstrate better performance
www.sparctechnologies.com.au
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Acacia Coal Limited published this content on 29 January 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 28 January 2021 21:55:01 UTC.
