MIAMI, July 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abakan Inc. (OTCQB:ABKI) ("Abakan"), an emerging leader in the advanced coatings and metal formulations markets, today announced the launch of a new minority-owned subsidiary, Terves Inc. , to commercialize proprietary reactive materials technology for the shale gas and oil industry. Terves' TervAlloy TM technology was initially developed by Abakan's 41% owned subsidiary Powdermet, Inc. , for the U.S. Department of Defense to build reactive warheads. TervAlloy TM technology has since been reconfigured and customized into engineered reactive materials that can significantly improve the efficiency and safety of well isolation, perforation and completion for oil and gas companies operating in shale reserves in the United States and across the globe.
"Powdermet is structured as a technology incubator to develop technologies with support from federal agencies, strategic partners and Abakan," said Andrew Sherman , CEO of Powdermet and Terves. "Once technologies reach a stage of technical development where their value proposition has been validated, we spin off the technology through a subsidiary to commercialize the technology platform. Abakan's majority owned subsidiary MesoCoat is a prime example of this strategy. We have a very simple criterion for commercializing technologies that we refer to as our two times value proposition, which means the technology offers either twice the performance or life at the same cost, or the same performance or life at half the cost, when compared to competing technologies."
TervAlloy TM is a class of patented, environmentally responsive, lightweight metallic materials manufactured from magnesium and other light metals such as lithium that are high strength, machinable, and also respond to environmental stimuli such as changes in fluid, pH, temperature or electrical or magnetic fields to induce material changes such as decoherence (disintegration), gas generation, or heat generation. TervAlloy TM is engineered for various market applications including oil and gas tools for well isolation and completion (frac-balls, sleeves, and seats), well perforation, and fracturing, lightweight electronic packaging, beryllium replacement, airframe structures, missile airframes and rocket motor cases, and transportation The primary application of TervAlloy TM for Oil and Gas include controlled disintegration well completion tooling and reactive tooling that provides for the generation of heat and gas pressure inside a formation.
"Unlike the oil and gas industry as a whole, which is fairly mature in terms of technical advancements, the extraction of shale gas is relatively new and open to large-scale innovation," said Robert Miller , Abakan's CEO. "We want to go into this industry early and gain a strong foothold using our engineered material solutions. The frac-ball and energetic material technology platforms that Terves is commercializing could make possible the completion of three to four wells in the same time it now takes to complete one well using legacy technologies. Shale is fast becoming one of the nation's largest industries; tools used in well completion currently account for over a billion dollar market which is expected to triple over the next three years as shale gas production increases. We expect to be at the forefront of this development."
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 for being in the top manufacturing innovation across the globe , by Forbes as the #1 Most Promising Material Science Company in the United States 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 Phone: +1-786-206-5368 Email: www.abakaninc.com Investor Relations Mike Bowdoin RedChip Companies 407-644-4256 ext. 110 Media Inquiries Jan Helbing Antenna Group for Abakan Inc. 415-977-1912
