Graphite’s uses have long been diverse, but, according to the experts at Industrial Minerals Data, the “emergence of the Li-ion battery era” – with Li-ion technology being key to our everyday portable electronic gadgets – has the “potential to turn the industry on its head.” Coupled with the ostensibly endless potential applications for the “new super material graphene,” and with supply challenges looming large, Graphite may just be “the new black.”

A new study by London-based graphite market specialist with Industrial Minerals and American Resources expert Simon Moores entitled “The Natural Graphite Report 2012” reviews “every major graphite producing company around the world, building from the bottom up data and analysis of the industry. It also contains a focus on the commercialisation of graphene, its production and demand potential.”

The geopolitical dimension of resource policy becomes apparent with Graphite, too. As Moores points out, much like in the Rare Earths realm, China not only dominates a disproportionately large share of global graphite supply, it also holds all of the spherical graphite processing technology – with the difference being that the rest of the world has a few years to correct this situation if it wants to avoid a scenario similar to the rare earths crisis.

Click here to access the study ($), and read more about the report in this interview with The Gold Report. Stay tuned for a forthcoming blog post from the author of the report, Simon Moores, himself.