MIAMI, Oct. 10, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abakan Inc. (OTCQB:ABKI) ("Abakan"), an emerging leader in the advanced coatings and metal formulations markets, today announced that Powdermet's portfolio company, Terves Inc. , has secured a $75,000 award from the Innovation Fund , founded by the Lorain County Community College Foundation. Abakan will provide a 100% leverage to the awarded amount by committing an additional $75,000 to complete prototype development of frac-balls that respond (rapid disintegration) to environmental stimuli such as temperature, pressure, pH, etc. once they serve their purpose of isolating a well section for hydraulic fracturing.
"Ohio not only has one of the lowest cost of doing business in the nation, but also has several financing programs to support early stage material science companies. Terves's TervAlloy™ reactive materials are a class of patented materials that can be cast into net shapes to perform their role in isolation, perforation, and completion of shale reserves; and once its job is done, it would respond in a controlled fashion to change in environment and deliver the desired outcome which can be disintegration, increase in size, etc.", said Abakan CEO, Robert Miller . "One of the product that we are developing with these reactive materials, is a self-disintegration frac-ball, which unlike the completion should be able to handle substantially higher pressures (~15,000 psi), and also be able to dissolve within minutes instead of hours or days. These frac-balls should enable oil and gas companies to significantly reduce the downtime losses caused by slow disintegration of the currently used frac-balls; allow multi stage fracturing enabling better efficiency and faster throughput; reducing the time to drill a well by up to 70% leading to operational cost reduction and higher EBIT; allow economic production from wells that have low production wells and wells with pressure differential between stages; and additionally enable the use of higher pressures for fracking which the current frac-balls are unable to withstand."
Abakan expects the completing prototype demonstration of TervAlloy™ frac-balls over the next 6 months, and would then utilizing the TervAlloy™ materials platform begin the development of other products such as reactive tooling and casing that disintegrate after use thereby reducing downtime and maintenance risks, and reactive self-swelling proppants that enable higher throughput.
The Innovation Fund, founded by the Lorain County Community College Foundation is a regional fund focused on supporting technology-based entrepreneurial endeavors and emerging technology-based businesses. The Innovation Fund is financially supported by the Ohio Third Frontier Program as well as partner support and philanthropic contributions from corporations, foundations, and individuals. The primary criteria for this award includes the company having an innovative and cutting edge technology or new application for an existing technology that advances Ohio's high growth industries sectors; an experienced business team; and the ability to foster and promote and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
About Abakan Inc.
Abakan develops, manufactures, and markets advanced nanocomposite materials , innovative fabricated metal products and highly engineered metal composites for applications in the oil and gas, petrochemical, mining, aerospace and defense, energy, infrastructure and processing industries. Abakan's technology portfolio currently includes high-speed, large-area metal cladding technology ; long-life nanocomposite anti-corrosion and-wear coating materials ; and high-strength, lightweight metal composites . Abakan's products have demonstrated longer life, higher productivity and extremely high strength-to-weight ratios compared to competing technologies. The Abakan group of companies has been honored by The Wall Street Journal as the #1 Manufacturing Innovation across the globe , by Pipeline Industries Guild as the Top Subsea Pipeline Technology, by Forbes as the #1 Most Promising Material Science Company in the United States , by American Metals Market with the Steel Excellence Award , by Inc. 500 as one of the Fastest Growing Manufacturing Company in the U.S. , and has received numerous other trade, industry and technology awards including five R&D 100 Awards and a Technology Innovation Award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Over $50 million has been invested in product development and testing by federal agencies, national labs and our companies in order to deliver products that offer improved performance over the current state of art. Abakan has successfully introduced its metal coatings for metal asset protection and life extension in the oil and gas and mining industries, and is currently focusing on the scale-up and commercialization of its highly disruptive metal cladding products for the oil and gas, oil sands, mining and chemical industries. Abakan currently operates from multiple locations in United States and Canada, and intends to expand global operations in South America, Canada, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.
Forward-Looking Statements:
A number of statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties including technological obsolescence, market acceptance of future products, competitive market conditions, and the sufficiency of capital resources. The actual results Abakan may achieve could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. Abakan encourages the public to read the information provided here in conjunction with its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Abakan's public filings may be viewed at www.sec.gov .
Abakan Inc. Robert Miller, Chief Executive Officer 786-206-5368 www.abakaninc.com Investor Relations Steve Ferris (206) 919-6304
