Local mining companies are rushing to supply the high-tech materials of the future.

Explorers are heading out across the nation to find new sources of graphite, the material used to create graphene.

Graphene is a single-atom layer of graphite that could fundamentally change computers, mobile phones and aviation materials, among many other possible advances.

Assistant Professor Amir Karton from the University of Western Australia says graphene has some incredible potential.

“We come to work every day and it is like looking at a plain sheet of canvas and we are thinking of how we can use this new and exciting material,” he said in an interview with the ABC.

“All of these chemical and physical properties make it a promising material for many applications, most of which have not been realised yet.

“It can be used to make flexible electronics, flexible batteries, touch screens, transparent conductive films, solar cells, fuel cells and the list goes on and on.”

Australia has some significant graphite deposits in Western Australia, but the mineral still remains largely unexplored.

Now, a number of companies are starting big exploration schemes, as the uses of graphene continue to grow.

Perth-based company Kibaran Resources has snapped up three graphite deposits in Tanzania, hoping to start production by the end of next year.

The company wants to be ready to provide the basis for future graphene products by teaming-up with CSIRO and the University of Western Australia.

“Graphene is a phenomenal discovery, the commercialisation of graphene as a product will revolutionise significant aspects of way things are produced in the future,” Kibaran managing director Andrew Spinks said.

“There is no doubt aligning ourselves with CSIRO as a strategic partner looking at graphite or graphene inks in 3D printing, but that is the level of our R & D [research and development].

“We are more interested and focused in participating in the downstream value add of manufacturing and processing purified graphite products.”

Dr Karton said ideas for using graphene in 3D printing could be the next exciting opportunity.

“Unlike other materials that are being used for 3D printing, this graphene-based wonder ink holds many new possibilities,” he said.

“For example, it can be used for tissue design, can conduct electricity and also because of the non-toxicity of graphene it is very bio-compatable.

“It can be used for printing 3D electronic devices because it is a very good conductor of electricity, these are some of the possibilities for it.”

Demand for graphite in its traditional forms has greatly increased over the past decade, and while prices have recently dropped, some analysts predict it value will triple within the next five years.

Mr Spinks says demand for graphite, and therefore the price, will greatly increase in the future.

“I think we are all going to be driving around in electric vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, transportation is radically going to change in the future,” he said.

“So that is driving enormous interest and there is no doubt that is going to be a major consumer of graphite in the future.”