Lincoln Minerals' tests deliver premium flake graphite product from Kookaburra Gully
Lincoln Minerals (ASX: LML) has delivered positive metallurgical results from its
flagship Kookaburra Gully graphite deposit near Port Lincoln on South
Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.
Preliminary metallurgical studies on
drill and trench samples of high grade graphite mineralisation have been
processed from 70-100 kilogram bulk samples.
Metallurgical
flotation tests from the upper 50 metres of mineralisation yielded a
91.2% recovery of contained graphite into a concentrate averaging 94%
carbon.
A second sample representing mineralisation below 40
metres true depth, yielded 98% recovery of contained graphite into a
concentrate averaging 95% carbon.
Kookaburra Gully is a global
top 10 graphite deposit based on grade and has total Indicated and
Inferred Resources of 2.2 million tonnes grading 15.1% total graphitic
carbon (TCG), and 332,000 tonnes of contained graphite at a cut-off
grade of 5% TGC.
Premium flake graphite is being produced from
Kookaburra Gully at grades of over 94% TGC with standard flotation and
no chemical leaching, and up to 98% TGC after 4 to 5 stage flotation,
with 25% premium coarse flake.
Good metallurgy and changing
global graphite market conditions, particularly recent events in China,
are positive indicators for Lincoln Minerals’ graphite projects.
Since
2007, graphite exports from China have significantly reduced, opening
opportunities for new western producers, and over the last 10 years the
price of premium flake graphite has continued to rise by about 15% per
annum.
