Agoracom Blog

PyroGenesis $PYR.ca Completes Contract for Specialty #3D Metal Powder; Full Payment Received $LMT $RTN $NOC $UTX $HPQ.ca $DDD.ca $SSYS $PRLB

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:40 AM on Thursday, July 11th, 2019
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  • Received a purchase order for specialty metal powder from a government entity and that it had shipped the first batch,
  • Successfully completed this special order and has, as a result, received full payment from the Client.

MONTREAL, July 11, 2019 — PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (http://pyrogenesis.com) (TSX-V: PYR) (OTCQB: PYRNF) (FRA: 8PY), a high-tech company, (the “Company”, the “Corporation” or “PyroGenesis”) that designs, develops, manufactures and commercializes plasma atomized metal powder, plasma waste-to-energy systems and plasma torch  products, announced  in  Press Releases dated December 17th, 2018, and March 5th, 2019, that (i) the Company had received a purchase order for specialty metal powder from a government entity (the “Client”), and (ii) that it had shipped the first batch, the Company is now pleased to announce  that it has successfully completed this special order and has, as a result, received full payment from the Client. The name, origin, and type of powder are not permitted to be disclosed.

As previously announced, under this Contract, PyroGenesis was to produce specialty reactive metal powder using its NexGen™ plasma atomization system. The Client intends to use this powder for confidential purposes. The powder was delivered, in its entirety, over a period of two (2) months and the quality exceeded expectations. Follow-on orders are expected.

“The completion of this Contract represents a significant milestone for PyroGenesis Additive. This is the first powder produced using PyroGenesis Additive’s new plasma atomization process at a production rate unheard of for plasma atomized powders,” said Mr. Massimo Dattilo, VP PyroGenesis Additive. “Although not titanium, the material had similar properties to titanium, including being reactive. Being able to produce this specialty reactive metal powder in such a short period of time underscores the versatility of our new plasma atomization process in producing best-in-class powders. This order for unique material illustrates how PyroGenesis is a leading go-to Company for innovative 3D printing material projects.”

About PyroGenesis Canada Inc.

PyroGenesis Canada Inc., a high-tech company, is the world leader in the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced plasma processes and products. We provide engineering and manufacturing expertise, cutting-edge contract research, as well as turnkey process equipment packages to the defense, metallurgical, mining, advanced materials (including 3D printing), oil & gas, and environmental industries. With a team of experienced engineers, scientists and technicians working out of our Montreal office and our 3,800 m2 manufacturing facility, PyroGenesis maintains its competitive advantage by remaining at the forefront of technology development and commercialization. Our core competencies allow PyroGenesis to lead the way in providing innovative plasma torches, plasma waste processes, high-temperature metallurgical processes, and engineering services to the global marketplace. Our operations are ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certified, and have been ISO certified since 1997. PyroGenesis is a publicly-traded Canadian Corporation on the TSX Venture Exchange (Ticker Symbol: PYR) and on the OTCQB Marketplace. For more information, please visit www.pyrogenesis.com

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words “may”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect”, “in the process” and other similar expressions which constitute “forward- looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Corporation’s current expectation and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the Corporation with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Corporation’s ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com, or at www.otcmarkets.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the OTCQB accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

SOURCE PyroGenesis Canada Inc.

For further information please contact: Clémence Bertrand-Bourlaud, Marketing Manager/Investor Relations, Phone: (514) 937-0002, E-mail: [email protected] 

RELATED LINKS: http://www.pyrogenesis.com/

Bougainville Ventures $BOG.ca Hires Processing Company to Process the First 1,700 lbs of Hemp $CROP.ca $VP.ca NF.ca $MCOA

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 7:53 AM on Thursday, July 11th, 2019
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  • Announced that it has hired a mobile processing company to travel to Portland Oregon from Washington State to process last year’s hemp crop.
  • The total amount to be processed is approximately 1,700 lbs of bio-mass and should take about 5 days to process. The anticipated the value of the crop is $250,000 USD.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 11, 2019 — BOUGAINVILLE VENTURES INC. (“Bougainville” or the “Company”) (CSE: BOG) (8BV-FF:Frankfurt Stock Exchange) – The Company is pleased to announce that it has hired a mobile processing company to travel to Portland Oregon from Washington State to process last year’s hemp crop. The total amount to be processed is approximately 1,700 lbs of bio-mass and should take about 5 days to process. The anticipated the value of the crop is $250,000 USD.

Andy Jagpal, President Comments:

“This is a great day and milestone reached by our company. Not only have we completed on our LOI with Worm Casting, and planted a successful second crop for 2019, but we are in the midst of reporting revenue this year by processing last year’s crop. The estimated value is expected to be $250,000 USD and could be reported as early as the 4th quarter of 2019. To be reporting revenue only after a year of trading is quit the accomplishment for a junior company. Also, the relationship we have established with the mobile processing company will also be able to process this year’s harvest as well.”

Please visit the link below to view a video of the Oregon Hemp Farm:

About Mobile Processor
The extraction company has a mobile extraction laboratory and extractor to service the cannabis sector. The type of services which can be performed on these mobile platforms include: dehydration of plant material, cannabis grinding, solvent-based extraction and filtration, fractional distillation, and odor elimination.

About Bougainville Ventures, Inc.Bougainville Ventures Inc. is dedicated to rapid growth in production, processing, retail and branding of cannabis and cannabis related products. Currently the company provides strategic capital to the thriving cannabis cultivation sector through ownership and development of commercial real estate properties. We offer fully built out turnkey facilities equipped with state-of-the-art growing infrastructure to cannabis growers and processors. Also, the Company is focused on building a strong presence in the hemp industry with the objective of extracting cannabinoids in both Canada and the United States. Along with our flagship Hemp project in Oregon State and the Greenhouse campus in Washington state, the Company has proprietary formulas for cannabis edibles, topical, and tinctures.

On behalf of the Board of Directors 
BOUGAINVILLE VENTURES INC.

Andy Jagpal, President and Director

For further information, please contact Andy Jagpal at [email protected]. Please note that our Toll free number has changed to 1-877-517-7816.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release.

Iconic $ICM.ca Initiates 2019 Exploration Plan at Bonnie Claire #Lithium Project, Nevada $LI.ca $MGG.ca $PAC.ca $CYP.ca $NEV.ca $SX.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:27 PM on Wednesday, July 10th, 2019
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  • Preparing to mobilize to the Bonnie Claire project and initiate the 2019 exploration plan
  • Five drill holes averaging 90 meters (300 feet) depth will be drilled in the southern portion of the project area in an area of anomalous surface lithium values and interpreted faults

Vancouver, British Columbia–(July 10, 2019) – Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ICM) (OTC Pink: BVTEF) (FSE: YQGB) (“Company” or “Iconic”)  is pleased to announce that it is preparing to mobilize to the Bonnie Claire project and initiate the 2019 exploration plan (“Exploration Plan”).

Five drill holes averaging 90 meters (300 feet) depth will be drilled in the southern portion of the project area in an area of anomalous surface lithium values and interpreted faults. Down-hole sediment samples will be collected continuously in 6 meter (20 feet) intervals and sent to a geochem lab for analysis.

In Addition to the commencement of the Exploration Plan, the Company would like to announce that it has received the draft report titled: “Bonnie Claire Metallurgical Evaluation and Process Development”, by St. Georges Eco Mining (‘SX”), who collaborated with an independent lab, SGS Lakefield Laboratories (“SGS”) where an elemental analysis and crystalline analysis of Bonnie Claire’s material were performed.

Iconic’s technical team is reviewing the report in conjunction with independent verification in accordance with 43-101 compliant standards.

The Bonnie Claire Lithium Property Characteristics:

The Property is located within Sarcobatus Valley that is approximately 30 km (19 miles) long and 20 km (12 miles) wide. Quartz-rich volcanic tuffs, that contain anomalous amounts of lithium, occur within and adjacent to the valley. Geochemical analysis of the local salt flats has yielded lithium values up to 340 ppm. The gravity low within the valley is 20 km (12 miles) long, and the current estimates of depth to basement rocks range from 600 to 1,200 meters (2,000 to 4,000 feet). Four drill holes have identified an open ended, 43-101 compliant resource of 28.58 billion kilograms of lithium carbonate equivalent. The drilling that defined the current resource only covered an area of 3.0 km2 (1.2mi2), while previously run MT geophysics show a potentially mineralized area of 27.3 km2 (10.5mi2). Drilling to date has shown strong correlation between the MT results and the lithium mineralization. The thickness of the lithium mineralization is unknown, but drilling indicates it is greater than 600 meters (2,000 feet). The current claim block covers an area of 57.5 km2 (22.2mi2). Further drilling has been permitted and metallurgy to determine the most efficient recovery method is currently in progress.

Richard Kern, Certified Professional Geologist (#11494) and CEO of Iconic is the Qualified Person who has prepared and reviewed this press release in accordance with NI 43-101 reporting standards.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Richard Kern, President and CEO
Contact: Keturah Nathe, VP Corporate Development (604) 336-8614

For further information on ICM, please visit our website at iconicmineralsltd.com. The Company’s public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com

Forward Statement: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Iconic expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/46170

BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – #India’s #Byju’s raises $150 million to expand globally $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, July 10th, 2019
SPONSOR:  Betteru Education Corp. Connecting global leading educators to the mass population of India. BetterU Education has ability to reach 100 MILLION potential learners each week. Click here for more information.
BTRU: TSX-V

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India’s Byju’s raises $150 million to expand globally

  • Byju’s, India’s most valuable edtech startup, has received new $150 million as it races to expand the reach of its learning app in the country and some international markets.

Manish Singh

Byju’s, India’s most valuable edtech startup, has received new $150 million as it races to expand the reach of its learning app in the country and some international markets.

The unnamed financing round was led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, and included participation from Owl Ventures, a leading investor in education tech startups. This is Owl Venture’s first investment in an Indian startup. A person familiar with the matter said the new round valued Byju’s at $5.75 billion, up from nearly $4 billion last year.

The startup, which has raised about $925 million to date, said it would use the fresh capital to aggressively explore and expand in international markets. The startup has previously said it plans to enter the U.S. and UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

It acquired Osmo, a U.S.-based learning startup that is popular among kids aged between five and 12 for $120 million early this year. Osmo recently unveiled a new product to serve the pre-schoolers market.

Byju’s helps all school-going children understand complex subjects through its app where tutors use real life objects such as pizza and cake. It also prepares students who are pursuing under graduate and graduate level courses. Over the years, Byju’s has invested in tweaking the English accents in its app and adapted to different education systems. It has amassed more than 35 million registered users, about 2.4 million of which are paid customers.

“Investment from prominent sovereign and pension funds validates our strong business fundamentals. Indian ed-tech firms attracting interest from eminent investors demonstrates that India is pioneering the digital learning space globally,” Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of Byju’s, said in a statement.

In India, Byju’s competes with a handful of players, including Bangalore-based Unacademy, which is aimed at students who are preparing for graduation-level courses. It raised $50 million last month.

India has the largest population in the world in the age bracket of 5 to 24 years. A report by KPMG and Google in 2017 estimated that the country’s online education market would grow to $1.96 billion of sales by 2021.

Byju’s generated around $205 million in revenue in the fiscal year that ended in March. It plans to increase that figure to over $430 million this year. Raveendran has stated that the startup intends to go public in the next two to three years.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/10/byjus-150m-international-expansion/

CLIENT FEATURE: Gratomic’s Definitive Graphite Concentrate Sales Agreement a Precursor to Commercialization $GRAT.ca $SRG.ca $NGC.ca $LLG.ca $GPH.ca $NOU.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:38 AM on Wednesday, July 10th, 2019

Gratomic is a leader in the mining and commercialization of graphite products

  • The global tire market acknowledges that employing graphenes within tire treads, walls and the inner linings can make tires lighter, provide better grip and reduce rolling resistance to an extent that is not possible with existing tire compounds
  • Key to the ability for Gratomic to establish the first mass-market Mine to Graphene to Tire, is the production of large quantities of graphenes nano surface modified to enhance tire performance
  • Gratomic is developing and commercializing its Graphene Processing capacity in Wales through its partnership with Perpetuus carbon technologies.
  • Soft launching Gratomic Fuel Efficient Tire in the summer.
  • Gratomic has recently prepared an additional 2 tonnes of Graphite concentrate which it will be shipping to wales in the coming days for converting into high quality Graphenes targeted for the use and development of several high value Graphene applications.

About Gratomic Inc.

Gratomic is an advanced material company focused on mine to market commercialization of graphite products, most notably high-value graphene-based components for a range of mass market products.

Gratomic Hub on Agoracom

FULL DISCLOSURE: Gratomic is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Is #Blockchain the New Technology of Trust? $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:22 AM on Wednesday, July 10th, 2019

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

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Is Blockchain the New Technology of Trust?

  • Blockchain continues to be a hot topic across the global start-up ecosystem.
  • And more entrepreneurs are placing huge bets on this technology. Y

Nidhi Singh Former Correspondent, Entrepreneur Asia-Pacific

Blockchain continues to be a hot topic across the global start-up ecosystem. And more entrepreneurs are placing huge bets on this technology. Yet the adoption remains sluggish despite the growing investment by start-ups and potential investors. Main reasons for this are fears over security and regulatory uncertainty. Will mass implementation of blockchain technology remain a distant fantasy?

US-based rating agency Moody’s Investor Service warns about the risks associated with the technology. “New risks with blockchain technology in securitizations may emerge as well as the reinforcement of some already existing ones. Risks include counterparty concentration, IT and operational risks, inappropriate blockchain governance and legal and regulatory issues,” its report says. Another study by auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) states that trust is one of the biggest blockers to the blockchain’s adoption. Concern about trust among respondents in the survey was highest in Singapore (37 per cent) after Hong Kong (35 per cent).

Riding the Wave

Despite issues, companies, especially those in Asia Pacific, are not shying away from the technology. Singapore-based LALA World Chief ExecutiveOfficer and Founder Sankal  Shangari believes blockchain technology is not only bringing in a difference at the consumer level but also posing a threat to the established system of governance, which is obtrusive of financial freedom.

“A lot of myths are floating around the technology. It was dubbed as a dubious technology, which may look promising, but was porous and could be compromised. The reality is far from it, the technology is secure and reliable than any of the other techniques available. But at the same time, it is complex and in a nascent stage just like the web was in the early 1990s and that is what helps the naysayers in spreading heresy about it. The need is to understand its applicability to a particular problem and the impact it has in solving it,” says Shangari.

LALA ID, a product of LALA World, is a comprehensive solution that protects the personal information of users through the immutable blockchain technology. Additionally, the start-up offers features like crypto payments through its application. “The world is going gung-ho about the possibilities of the said technology, which is gradually growing as an infrastructural pillar of economic functionalities, receiving the attention it deserves,” stresses Shangari.

Varied Uses

Mike Davie’s Quadrant Protocol leverages blockchain and smart contracts to track the data’s journey along the data chain—from the originating device to the data scientists that add value to the data—and provide automatic compensation every time the data is purchased. This helps create a more sustainable data economy. The start-up serves as the blueprint that provides an organized system for the utilization of decentralized
data.

“Data quality is vital to the success of artificial intelligence. Algorithms will believe whatever the data tells them to believe, so using poor quality data can result in unintended consequences. Data consumers, therefore, need to know where the data is coming from and be able to trust the source. At the same time, the original providers of the data are rarely compensated fairly. Data consumers like data scientists or AI practitioners can be assured of the quality and provenance of the data being purchased, while providers are compensated fairly. All compensation is paid in Quadrant Protocol tokens, which are recorded on the blockchain,” says Davie.

The company’s primary focus is on location data, which is an essential tool in understanding the behaviour of potential customers. The platform processes over 50 billion records a month, enabling organisations in every industry to obtain data they can use to make business and policy decisions. It is powered by a protocol that uses blockchain technology to authenticate and map this data.

Insurtech company Hearti is serving insurers with their proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain platform. Keith Lim, Chief Executive Officer, Hearti, believes blockchain’s immutable nature can foster trust in the insurance agreements between consumers, insurers and partners.

“Smart contracts are executed based on events that trigger conditions within the agreement (for eg. to pay out claims in the event of a flight delay). When claims data is shared securely on the blockchain, duplicate claims and fraud can be tracked and detected. Such uses of blockchain create huge value for our company’s proposition and put it at the forefront of the industry,” says Lim.

Founded in June 2015, Hearti Lab was born out of the realization that there was a void in the corporate and personal insurance sector: the lack of a low-cost, full-featured AI platform for insurance management. To achieve its vision of developing an integrated insurance platform, the start-up has developed two complementary platforms: BENEFIT.X and SURETY.AI.

In Tech We Trust

For Joseph Lee, Chief Technology Officer, BridgeX Network, blockchain is the “new technology of trust”. BridgeX Network is a financial ecosystem framework, built on a proprietary technology core that bridges the worlds of cryptocurrencies and fiat.

“We are using blockchain technologies to create a platform to allow lenders and borrowers to transact directly in a secure environment. The terms are specified in the blockchain and will be executed automatically without bias. The costs saved from eliminating intermediaries are passed to participants on the platform,” says Lee. “Perhaps due to the newness of the technology, there may still be a trust deficit with the public. But we strongly believe in it.”

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/336480

North Bud Farms Inc. $NBUD.ca – Consumer Entry into the #Cannabis Market Spikes Post Legalization $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $TRST.ca $OGI.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:35 PM on Tuesday, July 9th, 2019

SPONSOR: North Bud Farms Inc. (NBUD:CSE) Sustainable low cost, high quality cannabinoid production and procurement focusing on both bio-pharmaceutical development and Cannabinoid Infused Products. Learn More.

NBUD: CSE

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Consumer Entry into the Cannabis Market Spikes Post Legalization

  • Global marijuana market was valued at USD 42.20 Billion in 2016. By 2025, the market is expected to reach USD 466.81 Billion while registering a CAGR of 35.3% from 2018 to 2025.

NEW YORK, July 9, 2019 — Within the first quarter of legalization, 5.3 million or 18% of Canadian ages 15 years and older reported using cannabis, according to Statistics Canada. Following legalization, a large number of new users were willing to try cannabis solely because it was legalized and readily accessible. However, a year prior to legalization, only around 14% of Canadians reported using the plant. During the quarter, approximately 646,000 of the users reported trying cannabis for the first time, rising dramatically when compared to 327,000 users a year prior. Overall, the rise year-over-year is largely due to the abundance of male users between the ages of 45 to 64.

Generally, within that age group, adults tend to use cannabis for medical purposes, largely due to medical conditions associated with aging. For instance, cases such as chronic pain, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s are typically associated with the older generation. And through extensive studies, researchers have discovered that cannabis can be used to treat these and several other medical conditions. Furthermore, based on gender, a more significant amount of males used cannabis when compared to females and it was estimated that 22.3% of Canadian males used cannabis compared to only 12.7% of females.

Now, while the large increase in users is largely attributable to the older generation, cannabis is also much more prevalent among the younger generation. Statistics Canada reported that 29.5% of Canadians ages 15 to 24 years old used cannabis in the first quarter. Similarly, approximately 28.7% of Canadians ages 25 to 34-year-olds also used cannabis during the quarter.

While the adoption of cannabis grew among Canadians, it is important to remember that the market is still maturing. And despite its legalization, there are still many legal barriers imposed on the market, restricting the growth of businesses. Nonetheless, the market is projected to continually grow throughout the shortcoming years, developing into a global industry leader. And according to data compiled by Verified Market Research, the global marijuana market was valued at USD 42.20 Billion in 2016. By 2025, the market is expected to reach USD 466.81 Billion while registering a CAGR of 35.3% from 2018 to 2025.

Source: https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/consumer-entry-into-the-cannabis-market-spikes-post-legalization-897625196.html

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Major Improvements Are Coming To #Blockchain In 2020 #Bitcoin $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:00 PM on Tuesday, July 9th, 2019

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

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Major Improvements Are Coming To Blockchain In 2020

  • Everyone in the enterprise world already has a blockchain strategy.
  • If they don’t have one now, they risk the chance of staying behind or simply missing an opportunity.

Biser Dimitrov Contributor

Everyone in the enterprise world already has a blockchain strategy. If they don’t have one now, they risk the chance of staying behind or simply missing an opportunity. For the last few years, the benefits and correlated risks of fully adopting blockchain technology have been estimated, analyzed, and discussed at large. One thing is clear – despite the potential for a big upside, embracing a newly developed technology presents numerous risks that shouldn’t be underestimated. Blindly introducing new technology stack into an already working production environment means exposing that environment to potentially dangerous security breaches, hacks and data loss.

So, where we are now? Most blockchain protocols claim some level or maturity … but are they, in fact, sufficiently mature? Are they ready for full on-premise deployment in large-scale enterprises? Will CIOs and other business executives enjoy the same comfort as that of the tooling they already have? Let’s review what it takes to move a blockchain protocol from open source to enterprise.

It’s no surprise that the largest cloud providers are also the largest drivers of the Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) model. Let’s call them Tier 1 BaaS providers. They have already established themselves as market leaders with large customer bases. Offering various cloud services and expanding to blockchain seemed to be a logical and evolutional step. 

Microsoft Azure 

Microsoft is one of the largest players in the BaaS space. So far, it has focused primarily on Ethereum but also offers services for running R3’s Corda and Hyperledger Fabric networks. It has dedicated many resources to building the Azure Blockchain Workbench and Azure Blockchain Service. Microsoft’s team is also a key founder and an active participant in the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA) and Token Taxonomy Initiative (TTI). In addition, it has recently joined the Hyperledger family, for which it will contribute to the code and promise be an active member. 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) 

AWS and Microsoft Azure have almost equally split control of the managed blockchain space, though your niche will determine which of these services you use. If you are into financial services, you would probably use Azure, but if you are into healthcare, insurance, or other verticals, your choice is probably AWS. Recently, AWS has made publicly available its Managed Blockchain offering. It supports only Hyperledger Fabric for now but there are plans to integrate Ethereum too. AWS has also invested in the development of Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB), which is an append-only database with a cryptographically verifiable transaction log. 

IBM Cloud 

IBM is one of the primary maintainers of Hyperledger Fabric’s source code and, thus, is heavily involved in providing cloud services and product updates for it. Lately, IBM has opened its IBM Blockchain 2.0 to be multi-cloud, which means you can run your Fabric network across various cloud providers. 

Oracle Blockchain 

The Oracle blockchain platform has based its solution only on Hyperledger Fabric, which is not ideal but offers some neat services like enhance node provisioning, blockchain explorer and improved security. 

VMWare 

VMWare clearly saw the issues that affect the current blockchain infrastructure. It is working to resolve these issues with Concord, a highly scalable and energy-efficient distributed trust infrastructure for consensus and smart contract execution. 

VMWare Blockchain VMWare

Apart from the major cloud providers, in 2018 we saw the birth of Blockchain as a Service companies that base their products on top of existing cloud computing platforms; let’s call them Tier 2 BaaS. They are usually smaller, more agile startups that can push new offerings almost every month. This makes them very good choices for a faster go-to-market strategy. Their solutions are wide and colorful, and they usually cover different blockchain protocols. They remain unable to address most enterprise needs yet, but they will stay on the right track and be an attractive option as long as the establishment doesn’t disrupt them. The names that stand out in this category are Kaleido and Blockdaemon.

What are the enterprise needs from a blockchain perspective? Where do we want to see improvements so that we can fully use the benefits of decentralized ledger technology? Let’s separate the main requirements into four categories: platform; interfaces; infrastructure and network; and security and analytics.

Platform

  • Operational resilience – ability to maintain uptime and connectivity even when some components fail, including several layers of protection and failover strategy against data loss and corruption.
  • Pluggable consensus – ability to switch the consensus mechanism depending on the requirements without rebuilding the whole network.
  • Broader off-chain data storage capabilities – support for encrypted data storage.
  • Adaptors to allow for SQL-based ledger queries, which will make the broader developer community more comfortable working with blockchain.

Interfaces

  • Enterprise integrations – pre-built modules and onramps for existing enterprise systems.
  • Robust Oracles – ability to get real-time external data into smart contracts.Watch out for Chainlink.
  • Integration with GraphQL, a Facebook-developed language that provides a powerful API to get only the dataset you need in a single request, seamlessly combining data sources.
  • Identity federation – ability to authenticate with existing identity providers, which will facilitate faster adoption on the consortium level.
  • Built-in privacy and permissioning features – for transactions, accounts, wallets, smart contracts and network participants.

Infrastructure and Network

  • Ability to maintain peak performance at the network level – managing and operating hundreds of thousands of nodes while maintaining low latency and facilitating hundreds of thousands of transactions with guaranteed finality.
  • Ability to scale and reduce network size on demand – auto-scale a network by adding/removing more validators or orderers.
  • DevOps tools to make integration with existing IT systems easier and to make CI/CD build processes faster and seamless.
  • Support for cross-network interoperability and cross-blockchain atomic swaps.
  • Governance framework with an established and pre-determined transparent structure, rules of participation, a funding model, and financial incentives.

Enhanced Security and Analytics

  • Detailed privacy controls over data, smart contract execution, and transaction visibility.
  • Improved network monitoring with enhanced contextual meaning of the transactions, ability to troubleshoot on-chain events.
  • SLA monitoring with backward compatibility of upgrades.
  • Warehousing transaction history data, combining them with other off-chain data sources and making them available for BI reporting tools and other interactive dashboards.

As discussed, the blockchain technology stack has a long way to go before it will be mature enough for mainstream enterprise adoption. This is a completely normal process, as software developers and business leaders transition their mindsets from the currently siloed and centralized infrastructure to the distributed ledger networks. Luckily, we are at the forefront of this technological revolution and have the chance to contribute to what, one day, will be the norm.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/biserdimitrov/2019/07/08/major-improvements-are-coming-to-blockchain-in-2020/#73633acc55b6

Lomiko Metals and Quebec Precious Metals report multiple 100 m+ intercepts and multiple 10%+ Cg Zones at La Loutre Flake Graphite Project $DNI.ca $CJC.ca $SRG.ca $NGC.ca $LLG.ca $GPH.ca $NOU.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:21 AM on Tuesday, July 9th, 2019
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  • Results from the remaining 16 exploration diamond drill holes from the 2019 program at the Refractory Zone of the La Loutre graphite project
  • The strike length of the mineralization is estimated at 900 m in the NW-SE direction and is open in both directions.  A detailed interpretation of the results will be carried out to better estimate the thickness and strike length of the mineralized zone.
  • Next Step is to establish new resource estimate for the entire project including the 36 new drill holes completed since the 2016 resource estimate.

Vancouver, B.C. and Montreal, Que, July 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lomiko Metals Inc. (TSX-V:LMR, OTC:LMRMF, FSE:DH8C) (Lomiko  or the “Company”) and Quebec Precious Metals Corporation (TSX.V:CJC, FSE:YXEP, OTC-BB:CJCFF) (“QPM”) are pleased to announce the results from the remaining 16 exploration diamond drill holes received from the 2019 program (see Table 1 below, and Figure 1) at the Refractory Zone of the La Loutre graphite project (the  “Project”). A total of 21 holes were completed on the Refractory Zone for a total of 2,985 metres.  The Project is owned by Lomiko (80%) and QPM (20%).

 â€œLa Loutre has proven to be a large and high-grade area worthy of further investment.” stated A.  Paul Gill, CEO. “The only operating graphite mine in North America is the Imerys Graphite & Carbon at Lac-des-ÃŽles, 53 km northwest of La Loutre which reported Proven reserves of 5.2 M Tonnes at a grade of 7.42 % Cg in July 1988 before the start of production.” (reference: Potentiel de la minéralisation en graphite au Québec, N’Golo Togola, MERN, page 31, Conférence Québec Mines, November 24 2016).

Although the current focus is on the Refractory Zone, the Project was also subject of an independent technical report in accordance with NI 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, prepared by B. Turcotte and G. Servelle of InnovExplo Inc. from Val-d’Or, Québec, and O. Peters, of AGP Mining Inc., dated March 24,  2016, filed for the Project’s Graphene-Battery Zone. The report presented a mineral resource estimate of 18.4 M Tonnes at a grade of 3.19% carbon flake graphite (“Cg”) in the Indicated category and 16.7 M Tonnes at 3.75% Cg in the Inferred category using a cut-off of 1.5% Cg.

The above-noted 2016 mineral resource does not include the current results or the intercepts from the Refractory Zone in 2016 which were as follows:

LL-16-01 – 7.74% Cg over 135.60 m including 16.81% Cg over 44.10 m

LL-16-02 – 17.08% Cg over 22.30 m and 14.80% Cg over 15.10 m

LL-16-03 – 14.56% Cg over 110.80 m

The next task is to complete a new resource estimate in compliance with NI 43-101 for the entire Project including the 36 new drill holes completed since the above-mentioned 2016 resource estimate.

Table 1: Results of the 21 drill holes of the 2019 drill program. The width is drill indicated core length. Insufficient data exists to determine true width at this time.

Hole ID # UTM E UTM N Azimuth Dip Mineralization Gp %
From(m) To(m) Interval (m)
LL-19-01 499426 5098072 66.7 -50 3.00 10.50 7.50 18.85
  109.50 213.00 103.50 9.89
Including: 109.50 177.00 67.50 13.89
LL-19-02 499364 5098071 62.1 -50 114.80 117.00 2.20 8.62
LL-19-03 499515 5097977 55.6 -50 43.90 174.00 130.10 3.73
Including: 106.50 162.90 56.40 4.97
LL-19-04* 499567 5098041 65.9 -50 3.00 93.00 90.00 2.75
LL-19-05 499562 5097944 56.3 -50 100.50 148.50 48.00 2.70
LL-19-06 499614 5097980 63.3 -50 5.50 30.00 24.50 6.81
  52.50 70.30 17.80 4.89
LL-19-07 499644 5098001 66.1 -50 6.00 84.00 78.00 2.31
LL-19-08 499630 5097931 57.3 -50 55.50 109.50 54.00 2.73
LL-19-09 499654 5097957 63.1 -50 27.60 86.50 58.90 8.05
  51.00 86.50 35.50 9.94
LL-19-10 499587 5097909 62.9 -50 102.00 108.00 6.00 3.54
LL-19-11 499687 5097903 75.1 -50 90.00 108.00 18.00 4.42
Including: 100.50 105.00 4.50 10.10
LL-19-12 499641 5097888 69.1 -50.00 93.00 124.50 31.50 1.26
LL-19-13 499669 5097837 56.8 -50 81.00 90.00 9.00 6.35
  106.50 136.50 30.00 1.19
LL-19-14* 499700 5097803 59.7 -50 80.70 99.00 18.30 4.43
LL-19-15*

499751 5097832 64.8 -50 51.00 167.90 116.90 4.80
Including: 152.70 167.90 15.20 18.04
LL-19-16** 499851 5097829 66.5 -50 4.10 92.00 87.90 7.14
Including: 70.50 91.50 21.00 15.48
  132.00 160.50 28.50 3.86
LL-19-17* 499894 5097804 78.2 -50 15.00 62.30 47.30 7.56
Including: 51.00 62.30 11.30 17.45
  96.00 126.00 30.00 1.96
LL-19-18 499919 5097767 69.6 -50 3.00 36.20 33.20 3.50
  43.70 60.00 16.30 12.38
  69.80 72.00 2.20 12.38
LL-19-19 499792 5097791 63.2 -50 55.50 166.50 111.00 4.93
Including: 55.50 84.00 28.50 3.40
Including: 110.50 166.60 56.10 7.47
Including: 145.50 166.50 21.0 15.69
LL-19-20 499839 5097766 69.5 -50 34.30 40.50 6.20 4.07
  97.50 115.50 18.00 2.18
  118.30 124.10 5.80 16.00
LL-19-21 499857 5097726 52.9 -50 96.00 104.60 8.60 2.85

* Results announced in May 6, 2019 press release.

** Results announced in April 24, 2019 press release.

 On the basis of the available geophysical and 2016 drilling data, the strike length of the mineralization is estimated at 900 m in the NW-SE direction and is open in both directions.  A detailed interpretation of the results will be carried out to better estimate the thickness and strike length of the mineralized zone.

The Project consists of contiguous claim blocks totaling 29 km2 situated approximately 53 km NW of the Lac-des-Îles mine, formerly known as the Timcal mine, North America’s only operating graphite mine. It is accessible by driving NW from Montreal for a distance of approximately 170 kilometres.

 The 2019 exploration program is managed by Consul-Teck Exploration Minière Inc. (“Consul- Teck”) of Val-d’Or, Quebec, who designed the drilling campaign, supervised the program and logged and sampled the core.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Consul-Teck implemented QA/QC procedures to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of the core samples. The drill core was logged and then split, with one half sent for assay and the other retained in the core box as a witness sample. Duplicates and blanks were inserted at a regular interval into the sample stream.

 The samples in secure tagged bags were delivered directly to the analytical facility for analysis. In this case, the analytical facility was the ALS Minerals laboratory facility in Val-d’Or, Quebec. The  samples are weighed and identified prior to sample preparation. The samples are crushed to 70% minus 2 mm, then separated and pulverized to 85% passing 75µm. All samples are analyzed for Cg using the C-IR18 method.

 Qualified Person

Jean-Sébastien Lavallée (OGQ #773), Geologist, is a shareholder of both companies, VP  Exploration of QPM and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.

 For more information on Lomiko Metals, review the website at www.lomiko.com, contact A. Paul  Gill at 604-729-5312 or email: [email protected].

 On Behalf of the Board,

“A. Paul Gill”

Chief Executive Officer

We seek safe harbor. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Attachments

A. Paul Gill
Lomiko Metals Inc. (TSX-V: LMR)
6047295312
[email protected]

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Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:00 PM on Monday, July 8th, 2019

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