International Graphite Ltd (ASX:IG6) has capped off a highly successful 2022-23 drilling campaign at the flagship Springdale Graphite Project in Western Australia with yet more high-grade graphite.
The company has had great success in this campaign, hitting economical grades of mineralisation at four targets tested, with another three targets remaining unexplored.
This latest set of results was generated in exploration drilling at the Mason Bay prospect, which returned intersections up to 11 metres at 11.7% total graphitic carbon (TGC) from 47 metres, including 2 metres at 21.9% TGC.
The data set also includes more exploration drilling from the Springdale Central prospect as well as infill drilling from the Springdale Western prospect, producing results of 2 metres at 19.1% TGC from 40 metres with a higher-grade component of 2 metres at 27.5% TGC and 15 metres at 12.4% TGC from 8 metres, including 2 metres at 27.5% TGC.
Altogether, the company’s drilling results offer plenty of potential to expand and upgrade the Springdale resource estimate.
Updated mineral resource imminent
Managing director and CEO Andrew Worland said the company now had all the data to finalise an updated mineral resource estimate for Springdale, which is expected to be available within a fortnight.
“The assay results from both infill and exploration drilling are clear evidence of the enormous graphite potential of our landholdings at Springdale,” Worland said.
“We started with an aeromagnetic survey highlighting seven possible targets. So far, we have only drilled on four of these and each one has returned graphite mineralisation.
“Assay results have been exceptional from the new zones at Springdale Central, which is immediately adjacent to the existing resource, and from Mason Bay, which is just 2 kilometres to the east.
“We still have large tracts of prospective land to explore which makes us very excited about the potential for Springdale to support our plans for a long-term mine-to-market graphite operation in Western Australia.”
Importantly, the majority of graphite mineralisation at Springdale has been shallow, less than 100 metres of depth.
The proximity to surface is likely to simplify the extraction process, lowering the overall cost of the project.
Springdale’s current inferred mineral resource sits at 15.6 million tonnes at 6% TGC, with a higher-grade component of 2.6 million tonnes at 17.5% TGC.