A pilot scale milling test has demonstrated low milling costs of Sarytogan Graphite’s (ASX:SGA) “very soft” graphite ore.
Managing Director Sean Gregory says it highlights one of the main strategic advantages of Sarytogan – “being able to go straight to fine microcrystalline graphite without expensive regrinding”.
“Furthermore, the proper conservatism of the PFS (Prefeasibility Study) is evident, with these measurements expected to support cost reductions to be incorporated into the DFS (Definitive Feasibility Study,” Gregory says.
About 700kg of the milled ore will now be shipped to Australia for generation of additional bulk flotation concentrate, much like the 60kg previously treated to produce 20kg, except at a larger scale.
After flotation testwork is complete, final concentrate samples will be available in the first instance for vendor testwork with machines designed for thermal purification, size classification, and spheronisation. Secondly, the samples will be available for customer qualification.
A 24-tonne trial mining exercise was completed at Sarytogan in September 2024. The sample was free-dug with a back-hoe excavator from the Central Graphite Zone where ore is exposed at surface and mining is scheduled to commence at very low strip ratios.
The top 3m of the soil profile was temporarily cast aside and lumpy high-grade graphite was bagged for dispatch, before the pits were rehabilitated.
Sarytogan Graphite says each one tonne bulk bag of ore was grab sampled and assayed. Individual assays ranged from 27% to 41% total graphitic carbon (TGC), averaging 33% TGC, consistent with the early years of the mine schedule.
Eight tonnes were set aside as reserve and 16 tonnes were blended to provide feed for pilot scale milling tests.
The Sarytogan Graphite deposit is in the Karaganda region of Central Kazakhstan. It is 190km by highway from the industrial city of Karaganda, the fourth largest city in Kazakhstan.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Sarytogan Graphite
