Scio Diamond - Patents, Shipments and Production - Scio Moving Ahead

GREENVILLE, SC, Aug. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Scio Diamond Technology Corporation (OTC-BB: SCIO.OB) announced today that two more of their patents have been approved, international shipments have started and another production milestone has been met.  The two US Patents that were approved are as follows.

It is very important that we continue to develop our Intellectual Property and its associated protection," states, Joe Lancia, Scio's CEO.  "We have been fortunate to this point in our strategic plan to achieve significant sales and production results.  We must never rest on our laurels with regard to R&D.  The following two patents, reinforce our vision for the future of Scio, as well as it's current state."

Method Of Growing Single Crystal Diamond In A Plasma Reactor - Synthetic monocrystalline diamond compositions having one or more monocrystalline diamond layers formed by chemical vapor deposition, the layers including one or more layers having an increased concentration of one or more impurities (such as boron and/or isotopes of carbon), as compared to other layers or comparable layers without such impurities. Such compositions provide an improved combination of properties, including color, strength, velocity of sound, electrical conductivity, and control of defects. This process produces a conductive layer on top of a non-conductive layer, which is one embodiment. That allows for device layers grown into the diamond. The other is strain relief that allows faster electron flow.  These layers are used for color, sound transmission, electrical and structural compositions to make devices or increase capabilities of CVD diamond. "This is used in semiconductor devices to enhance device performance," says Joe Lancia, Scio's CEO.

Retail Compatible Detection of CVD Grown Diamond - This is a system that includes a radiation source to provide short wavelength light.  A holder positions a table of a gemstone to receive the light.  A detector is positioned to receive fluorescent light from the gemstone when the gemstone is a CVD grown gemstone.  It changes the wavelength of UV radiation source to produce a scintillator using a CVD diamond. It creates a light source, which shows radiation as light using a CVD diamond substrate. A detector can be used to measure light output and calibrated to a radiation level.

"The last two weeks, has shown the beginning of our international shipments of product, beginning the fulfillment of our largest order to date, says Mike McMahon, COO.  "This may just be the most important milestone yet, as it is specifically focused on customer satisfaction."

Over the last couple of weeks Scio has implemented new phases of its mass production phases.  It most recently had a single grow of over 100 carats of new growth single crystal CVD diamond.  McMahon says, "This was the first major move from our S3524 diamond seed growth technology.  Increasing the number diamond stones being grown, coupled with controlled condition and some recipe adjustments has allowed us to improve production by almost 50% over runs a month ago.

"The increase in production was a key, no doubt," says Lancia.  But one of the real keys, was the meticulous planning that was put in place, allowing the operations group to be successful on their first attempt'."

Scio is now in the midst of implementing a very aggressive laser/polishing program.  "As we have progressed quickly into the world of industrial diamond, we must continue our focus on the fabrication side of the business, says Charles Nichols, Scio's CFO.  Scio is strategically acquiring current technology for lasers and polishing operations in support of their industrial diamond production.  "This implementation allows Scio to become vertical in its support of clients with diamond size specifications", adds McMahon.  "Our operational focus will remain on supplying our customer with diamond to their specifications" reiterates Lancia.

About SCIO Diamond

Scio Diamond employs a patent-protected chemical vapor deposition process to produce high-quality, single-crystal diamonds in a controlled laboratory setting, with such diamonds referred to as "lab-grown" or cultivated diamonds. The diamonds have the identical chemical, physical and optical properties as diamonds found in the earth, and the company's highly controlled manufacturing process enables it to produce very high-quality, high-purity, high volume, single-crystal colorless, near colorless and fancy colored diamonds.

Scio's technology permits it to produce lab-grown diamond in size, color, and quality combinations that are very rare in nature. SCIO intends to offer diamonds in limited quantities as jewelry and in the technology arena as the material operating system of the future.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Scio Diamond Technology Corporation to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, which involve assumptions and describe future plans, strategies and expectations of the Company, are generally identifiable by use of the words "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that may be incorrect, and there can be no assurance that these projections included in these forward-looking statements will come to pass.   Actual results of the Company could differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, without limitation, the following factors, risks and uncertainties: (1) we are wholly dependent on our diamond production technology, and we may be unable to achieve high-yield production; (2) we have very limited operating history, and therefore, it is difficult to evaluate our business and prospects; (3) our ability to develop our core technologies is subject to uncertainties that are created by, among other things, the complexity of diamond manufacturing, high customer standards, dependence on third parties for certain complex components, the need to successfully integrate several complex components, dependence upon our employees and consultants to maintain an adequate testing and technical support infrastructure for successful adoption and rollout of lab grown diamonds to customers, and our lack of experience in these areas; (4) we may not be able to establish effective distribution channels or distributors for our products; (5) we expect future losses and will need additional funding; (6) competitors may have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing and marketing resources and access to distribution channels than we have; (7) our business model is unproven; (8) our diamond manufacturing technology is vulnerable to disruptions due to a variety of factors, which may lead to interruptions, delays, and losses of opportunities or inability to consistently market and sell our lab grown diamonds; (9) we may not be able to effectively manage the potential rapid growth of our operations; (10) we depend on our key management personnel, most of whom have either never worked together or who have worked together for only a short period of time, and the loss of the services of our executive officers or other key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business; (11) we will need to hire additional personnel, and if we fail to successfully attract, assimilate and retain a sufficient number of qualified executive, technical, managerial, sales and marketing, business development and administrative personnel, our business could suffer; (12) we may not be able to achieve a critical mass of customers and strategic relationships; (13)  we may not be able to establish brand awareness that is needed to achieve and maintain a significant market share; (14) the current and future state of the global economy may curtail our operations and our potential revenues; (15) acts of war, terrorism or other unknown and unexpected events could disrupt our business; (16) we have essentially no historical revenues and had a "going concern" qualification for our last audited financial statements; (17) the potential market for our lab grown diamonds is unproven and may not materialize; (18) we face significant competition, including from companies which are much larger, well known and have more resources than us; (19) rapid technological change will affect our business and our production capabilities may not successfully evolve; (20) we may have limited protection of our intellectual property and proprietary rights, and we may not be able to maintain the propriety and/or confidentiality of the technology; and (21)  substantial governmental regulations govern the testing, creation and sale of the types of diamonds we intend to produce and may restrict our ability to sell our lab grown diamonds. Except as required by applicable laws, the company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future.

SOURCE Scio Diamond