Sarytogan Graphite Ltd (ASX:SGA) has achieved saleable graphite concentrate grade of 81.4% total graphitic carbon (TGC) at 84.4% metal recovery from the latest bulk flotation testing of samples from its Sarytogan Graphite Deposit in central Kazakhstan.
The 60 kilograms of composite samples blended from eight diamond drill holes from the northern and central graphite zones at an average head grade of 32.5% TGC were tested in September at the Perth lab of Metallurgy Pty Ltd.
Significantly, the metal yield is higher than the 76.6% previously achieved on the same sample at the bench scale, which means that the project has the potential to deliver very low operating costs per tonne of flotation concentrate.
The bulk flotation concentrates have been sent to labs worldwide for downstream spheroidisation, purification and battery testing.
Downstream testing underway
“The results of the bulk concentrate test confirm that saleable graphite concentrate (greater than 80% TGC) can be readily produced from the giant and exceptionally high-grade Sarytogan Graphite Deposit,” Sarytogan managing director Sean Gregory said.
“Allocations of bulk concentrate have now been received by multiple global laboratories.
“Their important downstream test work has already commenced aimed at replicating the previous excellent purification results and importantly, demonstrating spheroidisation and battery performance.”
Pre-feasibility study in Q3 2024
The namesake deposit has an indicated and inferred mineral resource of 229 million tonnes at 28.9% TGC.
This deposit was first explored in the 1980s with sampling by trenching and diamond drilling.
Sarytogan’s 100%-owned subsidiary Ushtogan LLP resumed exploration in 2018 and since then, has upgraded the mineralisation to 99.87% by chemical purification and to 99.99% by thermal purification.
The ASX-lister is pursuing a strategy to supply high-quality anode material for the rapidly growing electric vehicle battery market and is in the midst of completing a pre-feasibility study scheduled for completion no later than the third quarter of next year.