Green Battery Minerals (TSX-V:GEM) reports independent lab results from ProGraphite bolster confidence in its Berkwood Graphite Project in Canada.
President and CEO Tom Yingling says the results “underscore the exceptional quality of our Berkwood graphite, positioning us strongly in the market for expandable graphite production”.
ProGraphite had been assessing the qualities of dry separated graphite, extracted from the Berkwood bulk sample by Volt Carbon Technologies at its mineral processing facility.
Germany-based ProGraphite recommends as a next step testing Volt’s +50 mesh graphite as it believes that an additional 20% expansion can be achieved.
ProGraphite was contracted by GEM to analyse a 125g graphite sample (L#955) provided by Volt Carbon Technologies on 1 July 2024. The sample’s particle size distribution was determined to be mostly -50+80 mesh. Test results indicated low moisture and volatile content, with a high carbon content of 98.2%.
“The potential for even higher expansion rates with further testing is particularly exciting and speaks to the superior quality and versatility of our graphite,” Yingling says.
“We are enthusiastic about the future and look forward to leveraging these advancements to create significant value for our shareholders and contribute to the growing demand for sustainable, high-performance graphite materials.”
The conversion process to expandable graphite was successful, achieving an expansion rate of 325ml/g, indicating high-quality material, the company adds.
The carbon content remained high at 98.5% post-expansion, and the onset temperature for expansion was around 200°C, consistent with the sulfuric acid/potassium permanganate method. Overall, the graphite sample shows excellent potential for expandable graphite production, Green Battery Minerals
ProGraphite’s report summary states that the material provided could easily and without problems be converted into expanded graphite. The expansion rate achieved (as the most important quality parameter) is at a high level, the graphite seems to be very suitable to be used as precursor material for the production of expandable Graphite.
The Berkwood Graphite Project is located in the Manicouagan Regional County Municipality, three hours driving time from the city of Baie-Comeau.
The Zone 1 graphite resource lies 8 km southwest of Nouveau Monde’s deposit, which has a C$3.5 billion NPV. The company believes its Zone 1 resource, and that of Nouveau Monde, share many similar geological characteristics, with Zone 1 being exceptionally high grade and coarse flake size by global standards.
The current mineral resource at Berkwood includes in-pit constrained resources totalling 1.755 million tonnes of indicated resources at 17% Cgr and 1.526 million tonnes in inferred resources at 16.39 % Cgr.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Green Battery Minerals
