Sarytogan Graphite Ltd (ASX:SGA) has officially begun bulk graphite concentrate manufacturing at the UVR-FIA GmbH laboratory (UVRFIA) in Germany using a 240-kilogram sample sourced from the company’s 100%-owned Sarytogan Graphite project.
The company recently achieved 99.87% graphite purity in beneficiation test work, meaning producing uncoated spheroidised graphite (USpG) is the next step toward manufacturing battery anode material.
SGA’s USpG optimisation tests require a minimum of 5 kilograms of flotation concentrate, more than the bench scale tests have delivered so far.
The company intends run tests on up to four 60-kilogram batch samples from the 240-kilogram bulk sample, with each batch anticipated to produce about 27 kilograms of graphite concentrate.
Test work will contribute to pre-feasibility study
“Further to our breakthrough metallurgical purity result of 99.87%1 we are now manufacturing bulk graphite concentrate to take the next step towards battery anode material in the form of uncoated spheroidised graphite (USpG),” managing director Sean Gregory said.
“By manufacturing more graphite concentrate than our immediate needs, we are getting ahead of the sample demands which are anticipated to continue to grow.
“The program will be an important input to our planned pre-feasibility study (PFS).”
SGA intends to complete the bulk graphite concentrate manufacture in the second quarter of this year, with spheroidisation to occur in the third quarter, and battery anode performance tests in Q4.
The company believes any product price optimisation achieved by this set of test work could substantially enhance the economics of its planned PFS.