Mr. Paul Gorman reports

GREAT LAKES GRAPHITE RECEIVES REPEAT PURCHASE ORDERS FROM BATTERY CUSTOMER

Great Lakes Graphite Inc. has received two purchase orders from an overseas manufacturer of stationary battery systems. One of the purchase orders is for 50 kilograms of high-purity micronized flake graphite. The material is being purchased for preproduction test manufacturing of a system designed for use in industrial applications. The other purchase order is for five kilograms each of five high-purity micronized synthetic and natural flake graphite products.

Highlights

• Repeat purchase orders from customer that is a manufacturer of stationary battery systems;
• High-purity micronized synthetic and natural flake graphite products are being evaluated;
• Market acceptance validates pricing and supports business model.

Senior vice-president of sales Michael Coscia said: "The purchase orders are from a customer who previously purchased a smaller quantity of material for initial qualification testing. Based on positive results from the first round of testing, this customer has now placed an order for a larger sample of the same material required to prepare for manufacturing these battery systems. We also received from the same customer an additional purchase order for five different high-purity micronized synthetic and natural flake graphite products."

Multiple battery qualifications in progress with prospective customers

Great Lakes Graphite is currently engaged in product qualifications with customers which represent a range of battery chemistries. These include lead-acid batteries that are predominant in traditional markets, lithium-ion batteries that are used in a broad range of applications and flow batteries for stationary energy storage applications. Each of the different chemistries represents distinct markets, each with significant near-term and long-term potential.

Great Lakes Graphite chief executive officer Paul Gorman said: "We are pleased to be working with eight battery and energy storage customer prospects including recognized industry leaders that represent a variety of battery chemistries and applications. We are well on the way to qualifying our material for multiple markets, on parallel paths. Customer acceptance of our pricing to date confirms certain assumptions in our business model and is providing increasing confidence in regard to our market penetration and internal revenue forecasts. Finally, our partnership with Ashland Advanced Materials provides the right manufacturing base for us to jointly pursue what is becoming a significant market opportunity."

About Great Lakes Graphite Inc.

Great Lakes Graphite is an industrial minerals processing company supplying customers with innovative, high-quality value-added carbon products.

There is no significant graphite production in North America now. As pricing and demand continue to rise, Great Lakes Graphite is one of the first new domestic suppliers to a growing regional customer base. The company continually works to deliver products of the best quality with outstanding customer service.

We seek Safe Harbor.