PR1 - former Chief of Australian Navy added to advisory board
Our Investment Pure Resources (ASX: PR1) just appointed retired Vice Admiral Michael Noonan to its advisory board.
He served as the former Chief of the Australian Navy from 2018 to 2022
(The most senior role in the Royal Australian Navy)
PR1 says his network is across the Australian Department of Defence, the Defence Science and Technology Group and the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator is "current and active".
The exact organisation’s that might have an interest in the tech PR1 is developing.
We also like that the appointment is for an initial 12 month term, with performance rights vesting on milestones tied to Commonwealth funding and commercial agreements:
(source)
Why we are Invested in PR1
PR1 is developing carbon nanotube fibre (CNTF) tech as a thermal management material, together with Rice University in the USA.
Think heat sinks and cooling hardware inside AI data centres, drones, robots and defence systems (more on this below).
PR1 has three separate workstreams running concurrently (and somewhat related to one another).
- The CNTF thermal management with Rice University (the main reason we Invested)
- Heavy rare earth + yttrium recovery with the US DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Premium abrasive garnet being qualified for US naval shipbuilders
The one we are most interested in is the CNTF workstream.
PR1 committed to four data releases to prove the tech, and three are now done:
- ✅ Conductivity (~1.5x copper)
- ✅ Weight (~5.5x lighter than copper)
- ✅ Thermal anisotropy (peer reviewed - directional heat routing)
- 🔄 System-level heat performance - "the big one", real-system tests against copper and aluminium, underway now
That final head-to-head is the release we think could attract real industry attention.
PR1's CNTF IP is jointly owned with Rice only where they are co-inventors, so any licensing or commercial outcome still has to be negotiated.
Here is a look at how the technology looks in action and how it can be created:
(source - PR1 announcement)
Check out our recent note here.
What we want to see next from PR1
🔄 US government funding outcomes
PR1 has commenced applications to DoE and DoD funding programs. We want to see at least one of these land - it would validate the program and provide additional capital:
(source)
🔄 End user collaboration progress
Multiple organisations are already engaging. We want to see this progress toward joint development agreements or testing partnerships with named parties.
🔄 Workstream milestones
With 8 workstreams now defined, we want to see PR1 start ticking off deliverables - starting with feedstock qualification and fibre synthesis.
PR1’s recent announcement confirmed that feedstock has been collected for characterisation, the very first step of Step 1.
Just prior to that PR1 confirmed the 8 step program to get this underway:
(source)
