International Graphite gets drill rods spinning in WA

International Graphite has the ball rolling on an 7000m RC and diamond drilling program at its newly acquired Springdale graphite deposit near Hopetoun in WA. The company already has its foot on more than 15 million tonnes of graphite at the site and is looking to process it into a battery grade anode material at its plant in Collie.

The company is looking to stake a claim as the state’s first “mine-to-market” operator, treating the material from Springdale to produce micronised graphite — an ultrafine material used in the production of lithium-ion batteries at its beneficiation plant.

As part of the program, International Graphite will sink 91 reverse circulation and 12 diamond holes across the resource’s eastern and western domains to bolster its confidence in the zone’s graphite reserves, deliver samples for continuing metallurgical test work and produce data to feed into its first-pass geotechnical and mine planning work.

Management believes the region could offer a significant source of high-grade graphite material and is looking to run a similar play on the deposit’s northern districts pending approvals.

Perth-based International Graphite only recently picked up the Springdale deposit after leaping onto the ASX in March, using proceeds from its initial share offer to complete the acquisition of the graphite play from Comet Resources.

Before the acquisition, Comet had already sunk $5 million into the operation, proving up its inferred resource and carrying out exploration that indicated the deposit could offer a raft of avenues for expansion.

Management says its latest call to action will look to build on Comet’s previous work and move towards an inferred mineral resource estimate.

Springdale’s existing mineral resource is at a respectable 15.6 million tonnes at 6 per cent total graphite content, or “TGC”, with a higher-grade component of 2.6 million tonnes at a strong 17.5 per cent TGC.

International Graphite says it is working on an additional exploratory target of 18 to 54 million tonnes at Springdale, with an even higher-grade of up to 18 per cent TGC.

The recent probe marks International Graphite’s first foray into a ground-based analysis at Springdale, with the company’s work so far limited to airborne electromagnetic surveys.

The work unveiled a series of electromagnetic anomalies that according to the company points to graphite mineralisation — even in the weaker reactions.

The company is now looking to vector in on and test these anomalies through the in-progress campaign.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au