You’ve never heard of Argo Living Soils (ARGO.C). That’s okay, neither had I until a friend grabbed my collar and dragged me over to listen to a pitch this week.

There’s no reason why you’d have heard of the company unless you’re an agri nut, and not many investors are. I’m sure not, so if I hadn’t owed a guy a favour, I might have made an excuse to slide out the back of the room.

But I didn’t and, you know.. maybe there’s something here.

THE BRASS TACKS:

For some time, Argo was banging away in the wilderness (literally) doing deals with partners as a company that created biochar, which is basically superheated biomass and is great for agricultural purposes, among other things.

The long story short on biochar is, it’s a carbon-rich material produced by heating organic matter (like agricultural waste, wood, or plant material) in a low-oxygen environment through a process called pyrolysis. That makes a type of charcoal that is primarily used for improving soil health and capturing carbon, but also water filtration and as an additive to livestock production to eliminate odour, and to building materials as a low carbon insulation option.

Not a bad business for the most part. If I’d heard about it today, as that business model, I may have been tempted to learn more.

But Argo isn’t focused on that business anymore, because something better came along.

So a few months back they rolled back the stock, shut down a royalty deal, closed a partnership deal, and stripped the company back to the studs.

THE NEW PLAN: TURN ORGANIC MATERIAL INTO GRAPHENE

No, really.

Hey. I’m being serious here.

Look, if you’re good at making biochar and can sell that to farmers, that’s cool and all, good business, feed the world and all that.

But if someone out there in in the world has figured out a way to turn biochar into GRAPHENE of all the things, the wonder metal the world has been trying to commercialize for a few years now but has struggled to find enough of, who am I to stop you from having a go at something new?

The big announcement:

Argo Living Soils Corp. has entered into a memorandum of understanding with PT. Aplikasi Grafena Industri & Consulting (AGIC) based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Argo and AGIC wish to pursue a joint venture to build, own and operate a commercial graphene research and development manufacturing facility for agricultural and industrial applications in Indonesia.

Established in collaboration with Advanced Materials & Nano Technology Research Centre-ITS, AGIC is the first graphene application developer in Indonesia. AGIC was created after successfully developing proprietary, low-cost synthetic bio graphene and graphene nano particle composite material technologies. These are commercially scalable and are based on homogenous biomass waste precursors only.

OKAY.

Whenever I hear about a new tech that could conceivably change the world, and commercially scalable graphene made out of corn husks or goat crap or coconut shells would be, I want to run down my ‘no really’ checklist to see if the tech is real.

First, let’s dig in to what graphene is.

Known for its super strength and light weight, Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice. It is considered a “wonder material” because of its exceptional properties and wide range of potential applications.

• Graphene is 200 times stronger than steel, making it one of the strongest known materials, despite being incredibly lightweight.
• It is only one atom thick, making it the thinnest material ever discovered.
• Graphene is highly flexible and can bend without breaking, making it ideal for flexible electronics.
• It is an excellent conductor of electricity, better than copper, with minimal energy loss.
• Graphene has superior thermal conductivity, efficiently transferring heat.
• Graphene is almost completely transparent, absorbing only 2% of light.
• It is impermeable to gases, even to the smallest molecules like helium.

Previously, folks considered graphene to be perfect for military uses, like building tanks but, the problem was, if a graphene tank took a hit from a bomb, it wouldn’t blow up, but would more likely bounce down the road like a superball, and anyone inside would be shaken to death as part of the ride.

Same for auto production – graphene will protect you in a crash, but you might roll for ten minutes as the lightweight metal takes the energy from the impact on a journey.

Sometimes a thing can be so revolutionary it just doesn’t actually work in practice.

But there are a ton of other uses that do make sense.

• • Flexible touchscreens.
  • Faster, smaller, and more efficient transistors.
  • Advanced computer chips.
  • Supercapacitors with rapid charging.
  • High-capacity graphene-based batteries.
  • Drug delivery systems.
  • Biosensors for detecting diseases.
  • Construction materials and reinforcement additives for concrete and polymers.
  • Graphene membranes for filtering water and removing contaminants.
  • High sensitivity sensors for detecting gases, chemicals, and biological markers.
  • Transparent and efficient coatings for solar panels.
  • Heat dissipation for electronic devices.

OKAY, lots to like there. Sourcing an inexpensive form of graphene that wouldn’t need to be mined from somewhere sounds like a good plan.

BUT CAN IT BE MADE FROM ORGANIC MATTER?

I’m no expert on chemistry, so let’s ask the robots if this tech exists in the world. Take it away, ChatGPT.

How Organic Matter Relates to Graphene Production

1. Organic Waste to Graphene:

   • Certain organic materials (like food waste, biomass, or compost) can be converted into graphene through processes such as:
     • Pyrolysis: Heating the material in the absence of oxygen to produce carbon.
     • Flash Joule Heating: A newer process that rapidly heats carbon-based materials to form graphene.

2. Potential in Biochar:

• • • • Biochar, a carbon-rich product made by pyrolyzing organic material, can sometimes be further refined into graphene-like materials.
      • If living soil contains a high amount of organic carbon, parts of it might be processed into biochar first, which could then serve as a precursor for graphene production.

OKAY so the answer is, conceivably… yes. But I’d still like to see some research papers on it.

Here’s one, in English, from a group called PT. Graphene Nanomaterial Consulting.

This study shows that the single pyrolysis method provides a simple and environmentally friendly approach to preparing GC from coconut shells with a high yield, hence is appropriate for large-scale production. The yield of GC slightly decreases by increasing the pyrolyzed temperature applied. A thinner GC layer with a less porous feature and an enhancement in the electrical conductivity is achieved by the pyrolysis at 900°C.

Huh. So our next step on the journey is this one:

IS THE PARTNER REAL?

This one is trickier because I’m not super plugged into the Indonesian academic scene, but I do know how to search for things and translate the results, so finding this video, from early last year, where an Indonesian research group show the early stages of their process to turn organic waste into graphene is shown.

This is an early concept so let’s not get too hung up on the absence of machines with flashing red lights that go ding. You’ll get the gist.

The description on the video translates as follows:

Through an innovative collaboration with PT. Graphene Nanomaterial Consulting, ITS [the group mentioned in the research paper above] has developed a method for producing graphene and its derivatives to support local graphene innovation. The Kedaireka program has resulted in advanced graphene production equipment, three scientific articles, and one industrial design intellectual property (HKI). By involving 18 MBKM students, this program also facilitated guest lectures from industry experts and provided opportunities for lecturers to engage with industry activities.

So we know the research group can do this, but can Argo’s partners?

The outcome of this program is the establishment of PT. Aplikasi Grafena Industri Consulting (AGIC), complete with a micro-production unit at ITS. Using the production equipment designed through this program, graphene derivatives such as graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been produced in powder, liquid, and film forms. These products have wide-ranging potential applications, including as a reinforcement additive in concrete, a nano-additive in fertilizers, sensors, solar cell coatings, supercapacitors, and batteries.

BRO.

Not only is this EXACTLY what Argo says they’re looking to do, but PT. Aplikasi Grafena Industri Consulting (AGIC) are EXACTLY the group named in their news release, which was formed from the research group in the video. Multiple sources for the win.

BUT LET’S PROVE IT OUT

The final stage of my detective process in gauging whether this business plan has legs or not is, what will it take to prove out the tech and produce commercial products?

Well it seems that might not be far off.

From the Argo news release linked above:

AGIC is ready for commercial production. AGIC continues research and development in field trials and some of AGIC’s products are in the development stage. AGIC has patented and proprietary graphene-based fertilizer, G-ONBF/PGR Series, (graphene organic nano bio fertilizer with plant growth regulator) technology.

ALRIGHT HOLLLLLD UP.

I’m going to suggest that what counts as commercial-ready in Indonesia might not qualify as commercial-ready in Canada, so we’re going to need to see a pilot plant, perhaps replicable in North America and at scale, before we get too excited.

And, to their credit, it seems like Argo isn’t running this thing through any walls just yet. Emphasized words are mine.

Company director, Robert Intile, states: “We are excited to partner with AGIC, an innovative company, which has been able to create a low-cost way of making very valuable graphene. Their patented and proprietary IP can convert waste biomass into high quality graphene which may revolutionize farming and industrial applications.”

“Can” and “may” are very important words here. Argo isn’t trying to launch this into the stratosphere just yet, rather they’re pointing out there’s a HUGE opportunity here if they can make this tech scale.

And they’re not wrong. What they’ve managed so far is a 5 kg batch level at their ‘first bio graphene microfactory’, and a 300 litre batch of liquid bio graphenic NP composites. I’ve no idea how long those take to produce, how many batches they can do, and what each one might be worth (or even cost to produce), so until the group can show a large scale facility and run some commercial numbers, we’re still at the theory stage.

But it’s a GOOD theory, if they can swing it, and has way more potential upside than boiling corn husks and selling the ashes back to farmers, which was (basically) the old model.

Right now this deal is at the MOU stage, which leaves Argo with some work still to do.

They’ll want to raise some money at some point but, here’s the thing: Graphene done the old fashioned way costs a LOT to produce. If this funky fresh flava way of doing it works commercially, Argo is on the pointy side of something big.

For now anyway, it’s got a $3 million market cap, so there’s an abundance of room for this stock to move – and it looks like it’s starting to.

Watchlist, friends.

— CHRIS PARRY

FULL DISCLOSURE: No commercial arrangement, no dog in the fight, no stock purchased at the time of writing, just interested in seeing if we can make graphene happen, Becky.