Lincoln Minerals (ASX: LML) has launched a mine-to-battery scoping study in what it says is a crucial first step towards becoming a producer of purified spherical graphite (PSG) in South Australia using renewable power.
The study will assess the use of feedstock from Lincoln’s Kookaburra graphite project (KGP), with a battery anode material (BAM) manufacturing plant to be co-located with the SA deposit.
Lincoln says final testwork required for the BAM scoping study has already begun and it expects the work to be completed in this year’s third quarter. Management says the process of qualification of micronized graphite product is also being explored.
The latest news comes just days after the company revealed that a recent independent review of metallurgical testwork completed six years ago on its KGP graphite confirmed the product was ideal for the high-quality battery anode material used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
KGP is, in our view, shaping up to be a Tier-1 graphite project and currently sits as the second largest graphite resource on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, which is inarguably Australia’s premier graphite province. We have an opportunity to create significant value from this potential BAM project by developing a downstream pathway for our graphite concentrate and position Lincoln as a future Australian-owned Purified Spherical Graphite producer.
Lincoln Minerals CEO Jonathon Trewartha
It appears as though the Australian Federal Government would like to see some movement in that space after it recently released its National Battery Strategy, which outlined $2.25 billion worth of direct funding, in addition to tax incentives, to develop a competitive domestic battery industry by 2035. Lincoln says it will be targeting some of that cash to give its BAM project a boost.
Next on the company’s agenda is the remaining metallurgical testwork on micronized graphite feedstock, which is slated to kick off next month and will involve spheronisation, purifications, coatings, total graphitic carbon (TGC) and cyclic voltammetry.
Once the work is complete, management says it will begin the qualification process for the micronized product to enable high-value market segments such as defence and aerospace to be targeted.
Lincoln’s latest mineral resource estimate for KGP sits at 12.8 million tonnes at 7.6 per cent TGC for 973,000 tonnes of contained graphite.
Management says further resource growth is possible as the KGP has a multitude of electromagnetic (EM) anomalies that spread south-west and north-east and span more than 15km. It is planning to drill targets outside the known mineralisation areas later this year.
KGP is made up of three near-surface, high-grade graphite deposits – Kookaburra Gully, Koppio and an area coined “Kookaburra Gully Extended”. The ore can be accessed via multiple shallow open pits that require simple conventional processing, involving a crushing, grinding and floatation processing circuit.
Lincoln says its prefeasibility study (PFS) for KGP is looming and is due for completion in this year’s fourth quarter. The study targets 60,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate production per year.
After featuring prominently in last year’s edition of the Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus, Lincoln is riding the wave of interest in its KGP by joining Australia’s trade mission to the United Kingdom, France and Germany. The international roadshow placed the company at front of mind for a network of offtakers in the EV battery space, in addition to companies involved in the automotive, defence, electronics and aerospace fields.
Trewartha is traveling with the mission to show just why Kookaburra may have the last laugh on its way to graphite production.
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