Castle Minerals (ASX:CDT) has extended its reverse circulation (RC) drilling program to 44 holes at its flagship Kambale Graphite Project in Ghana.
The company says it decided to extend the program to test recently uncovered new zones of interest within the project.
Additionally, a key factor of this program is aimed to infill drill a considerable volume of mineralisation and enable it to qualify to be incorporated into an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the project. The Kambala MRE currently sits at 15.6 million tonnes (Mt) @ 9% TGC containing 1.41Mt of graphite at the project.
Independent geologist Palaris Australia is on standby to conduct an updated MRE as soon as all assays become available.
Castle Minerals says the updated MRE will underpin a Scoping Study that will evaluate the merits of a long-life open-cut mining operation producing at the site a bulk fine-flake graphite concentrate and possibly ‘higher-value’ precursor material for use in Battery Anode Materials (BAM) manufacture.
Commenting on the ongoing activities, Castle Minerals Managing Director Stephen Stone says: “The infill and extensional RC drilling and Loupe EM geophysics campaigns have gone extremely well at the Kambale Graphite Project, Ghana.
Recent discussions with senior government officials confirmed a high level of support for the project which was mirrored during meetings with key community leaders.
“A widely forecast looming supply shortage is expected to manifest favourably on fine-flake graphite concentrate and precursor battery anode material prices”
Kambale continues to evolve as a credible addition to the critical minerals strategic supply chain, where graphite’s key and largely irreplaceable role in electric vehicle battery and stationary power storage units is becoming more apparent to a world focused on achieving clean energy targets.
A widely forecast looming supply shortage is expected to manifest favourably on fine-flake graphite concentrate and precursor battery anode material prices.”
Once the recently completed Loupe EM geophysics survey data has been processed to identify any new zones of graphitic schist within the broader licence area, Castle Minerals will move on to complete phase 2 metallurgical testwork.
The company says this will help produce a commercial-grade, fine-flake graphite concentrate that will be evaluated for its capability to produce higher-value precursor battery anode material. Castle will then proceed to begin the development of the Scoping Study at the Kambale Project.
Castle Minerals notes that it is adequately funded to complete these planned programs.
As of the end of March 2023, Castle Minerals has maintained a consolidated cash position of $3.55 million.
Castle Minerals is an ASX-listed company with interests in several projects in Western Australia and Ghana that are prospective for battery metals, base metals, and gold.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Castle Minerals Ltd
