Castle Minerals has unveiled some excellent results from recently completed drilling at its Kambale graphite project in Ghana, with seriously long intercepts like 86m going 8.2 per cent total graphitic carbon (TGC) from 104m and grades that peak at 24.1 per cent total graphitic carbon. The company says the new results will likely bode well for inclusion in an anticipated update of its maiden 15.6 million tonne resource containing 1.41 million tonnes of graphite.
The results are from the final 21 holes of its recently completed 43 hole, 5,335m infill reverse circulation (RC) drilling program.
Another 53m hit came in at an impressive 11.5 per cent TGC from 120m.
Seven drillholes show intercepts from a minimum of 9m up to 86m and average grades between 8.1 per cent TGC and 11.5 per cent TGC, with some internal sections contained within going 15 per cent TGC.
One 2m intersection touched a whopping 24.1 per cent TGC within a broader 9m hit at 11.4 per cent TGC.
The results from the final 21 holes of the recently completed 43-hole, 5,335m RC drilling program at the Kambale Graphite Project provide additional support to our expectation of a material increase in contained graphite in what is an already robust 15.6Mt Mineral Resource Estimate grading 9.0% TGC and containing 1.41Mt of graphite.. This highlights the good quality and continuity of the Kambale deposit and a geometry that lends itself to open-cut extraction. These RC drilling results, the pending MRE update and the recently reported metallurgical test work results, where a commercial grade 95.1% TGC bulk fine graphite concentrate was successfully produced, will enable us to commence a scoping study in Q4 2023 that will evaluate the technical and commercial merits of establishing a mining and processing operation at Kambale. Castle Minerals managing director Steve Stone
Management says the results bolster an already impressive inventory of intercepts from a total of 21,367m of combined RC, DDH, RAB and aircore drilling put into Kambale by Castle to-date.
The company says most of the new holes have been designed to infill or better define zones of graphite mineralisation which have only recently been successfully confirmed by just one or two prior RC holes intended initially to test a series of geophysical conductor anomalies.
Notably, the latest results confirm the mineralisation extends continuously over 2.5km north-south and to depths below 120m from surface with excellent grade continuity. The improved drillhole density which includes new mineralisation will justify its inclusion in an updated mineral resource estimate.
A review of geophysical data indicates potentially excellent strike continuity of multiple graphitic mineralized structures that extend for many kilometres through the company’s licence area, well beyond the current defined resource which suggests the sky is the limit for Castle’s aspiration to become a long-term supplier of this critical material.
Kambale is well positioned as a possible long-term supplier of quality natural graphite concentrate and perhaps value-added products to the USA and EU battery makers that are looking to secure critical mineral supply chains to service the many existing and proposed battery “gigafactories”.
Whilst the cathode within a lithium battery is jam packed with all the headline minerals such as lithium, nickel , manganese and cobalt, the anode is made up almost exclusively of graphite which makes it a key player in the new energy revolution - and it would appear that Castle has plenty.
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