Despite need for secrecy, Altair tells investors it's moving ahead

Altair Nanotechnologies Inc.

of Reno says potentially big news about its technology is just around the corner but the company's executives say they can't provide any more details.

The secrecy is demanded by potential clients ranging from battery makers to pharmaceutical manufacturers, says Alan Gotcher, Altair's chief executive officer and president.

And Gotcher told investors in the company's volatile stock a few days ago that they need to be patient possibly for four or five years as Altair looks for partners to commercialize its research into nanotechnology materials.

The company's researchers in Reno think they've developed materials that could be used in applications ranging from fastrecharge batteries to titanium pigments for paint.

"Our development teams are going to have some progress to report over the next two quarters,"Gotcher said.

Altair's deal with Advanced Battery Technologies Inc., a Chinese manufacturer, has generated the most talk recently.Altair's supporters point to the potentially huge market for improved battery materials, but skeptics wonder if Advanced Battery has the manufacturing muscle to bring the technology to reality.

In the first quarter of this year,Advanced Battery reported revenues of $31,407 and a loss of $436,291.

But the company this winter brought on line a new factory in China.

Roy Graham,Altair's senior vice president of commercial development, told investors that executives of the Reno company visited Advanced Battery facilities in China and saw 1,000 workers producing thousands of lithium- ion batteries daily.

"Advanced Battery is a bona fide manufacturing company,"Graham said.

It's testing Altair's technology to see if it has promise to create long-lasting lithium-ion batteries.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, meanwhile, continues testing of another Altair product to determine its usefulness in treating kidney patients.

Altair continues to have a stockpile of cash about $29.5 million at last count to carry it until it begins generating a bigger flow of licensing and royalty money.

And the rate at which Altair burns its capital slowed a bit in recent days when the National Science Foundation awarded a $476,850 grant to the company to study materials for battery electrodes.

The grant, which begins flowing Oct.

1, will cover two years of work.

Just as important as the money, Gotcher said, is this: The grant was awarded after a peer-review process, and a big part of the criteria was scientists' views of whether Altair's material is commercially feasible.

No matter what the scientists say, investors recently have been about evenly split on the company's future.Altair's common stock spiked as high as $6.52 on news of the battery deal last winter, but it's been trading a few cents either side of $3 a share since April.

On the marketing side, the company said it's begun rolling out a new brand name, "Altairnano."