Black Rock Mining (ASX:BKT) has kicked off a Scoping Study at its Mahenge graphite project in Tanzania as recent drilling and ongoing metallurgical work are tipped to inform a maiden resource next month.
This program is expected to take 4-6 weeks to complete and is intended to be a precursor to a full Pre-Feasibility Study should the results indicate positive economics.
The company has appointed BatteryLimits, which is currently completing a detailed metallurgical testwork program of mineralisation at the project's Ulanzi and Epanko North areas.
The study and testwork follow closely on first-pass infill drilling at Ulanzi, which has emerged as the lead prospect thanks to the discovery of significant intervals of graphitic gneiss including a 123 metre graphitic zone, indicating a true mineralised thickness >100 metres.
Drilling at Ulanzi has delivered 73 metres at 10.2% total graphitic carbon (including 20 metres at 14.58% TGC) and 72 metres at 9.43% TGC (including 18 metres at 13.18% TGC).
Many holes in the area have contained significantly higher grade intervals of 12% to 17% TGC.
These drill results will be incorporated into a maiden resource statement next month, when the metallurgical testwork is also expected to be completed.
The parallel milestones are then expected to pave the way for Black Rock to begin marketing of graphite concentrates.
Analysis
This latest update from Black Rock emphasises the strong newsflow and potential price catalysts related to Mahenge's development.
The upcoming Scoping Study and resource update is expected to further crystallise investor understanding of Mahenge's commercial potential, which has already been indicated by some excellent drilling at the Ulanzi prospect.
The latest developments at the site also stands to benefit from the involvement of BatteryLimits, which has considerable experience in graphite projects having conducted metallurgical testwork, Scoping Studies and Pre-Feasibility studies on graphite projects in Tanzania, Mozambique and Australia.
Anticipation for the upcoming resource at Mahenge has been heightened by an exploration target of 41 to 52 million tonnes at 9.36% to 10.42% TGC.
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