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duction. He said with graphite, focusing on marketing is key. "You need to develop end user relationships and off-take agreements. You have to think down-stream constantly." Spine expects capital expenditures to be significant as he wants, "a Cadillac plant" that will produce a high purity concentrate, which will command top-dollar from end users of natural flake graphite. "There are possibilities for longterm tax incentives and development capital from the State," said Spine. The company expects to employ approximately 100 workers. "We plan to train local labour, to the fullest extent," said Spine. Alabama Graphite's management team recently gained some prestigious expertise. On November 22, Alabama Graphite announced the appointment of Jean Depatie, B.Sc., M.Sc., as Chairman of the company. Depatie put the world's largest graphite mine into production, the Lac-des-Îles Graphite Mine in Québec (later, Stratmin). To undertake a program of analysis, Alabama Graphite has retained Bumigeme, Inc., a North American engineering firm experienced in the discernment of graphite flake composition from field graphitic rock and in determining potential for mill recovery of flake graphite. Jean Depatie, remarked, "I have known Florent [Baril] (Bumigeme's principal) for many years. He is second to none in evaluating graphite rock for economic potential and he and his team can also design an optimally efficient mill to process the fullest of recovery from the large flake graphite." On December 17, at a meeting in Coosa County Judge Terry Mitchell's office, attended by engineers, private citizens and Alabama Graphite management, Alabama State Senator, Jerry Fielding, said, " Alabama needs jobs and nowhere in the state is this need more urgent than right here in Coosa County. I will help to deploy whatever state resources I can muster to advance this project to a working mine and graphite production plant." He added, "The excitement on the ground here is palpable. We now stand at the gateway to the second life of the great Alabama graphite industry." n february 2013 www.resourceworld.com 39