Eden and Deakin University finalise agreement for ARC-funded research project into use of EdenCrete™ in ultra-high strength concrete to reduce or eliminate steel reinforcing

Eden Energy Ltd (“Eden”) (ASX: EDE) is very pleased to announce that, as earlier foreshadowed (ASX:EDE 16 July 2015), it has now finalised its agreement with Deakin University (“Deakin”) to proceed with a collaborative Australian Research Council (“ARC”) Linkage Grant research project into ultra-high strength carbon nanotube enriched concrete requiring little or even no reinforcing steel.

The ARC grant, funded by the Commonwealth of Australia, will provide a total of A$300,000 over the three year life of the research project.

Whilst the collaborative ARC grant application was initially lodged by Eden jointly with Monash University (“Monash”), the Principal Researcher named in the application, Dr Frank Collins, who was formerly Associate Professor and Head of Structures Department at the Civil Engineering Department at Monash, was appointed as Professor of Infrastructure Engineering, at Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials in Victoria during 2015. With the agreement and co-operation of Monash, the project was transferred to Deakin University.

This project offers Eden a great opportunity to collaborate in world-leading, high level research into how its EdenCrete^TM carbon nanotube enriched concrete admixture affects concrete at a nano-scale in delivering increased flexural and compressive strength, increased abrasion resistance and reduced permeability, amongst other benefits.

This research could potentially lead to both the improvement of EdenCrete^TM and the development of a long dreamed of goal of producing ultra-high strength concrete that requires little or no steel re-enforcing. Quite apart from the enormous environmental and financial implications, such an outcome would have far reaching implications for the global construction industry. The significant advances that Eden has made with EdenCrete^TM over the past 2 years have already gone a long way to achieving this goal, and this work could considerably assist in accelerating the rate at which the exciting new research project can gain momentum.