South Star Battery Metals Corp revealed that it has received approval from the Brazilian Mining Authority (ANM) on February 22, 2022, for the final exploration reports for the remaining six of the 13 claims for its flagship Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Brazil.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based battery metals project developer noted that the other seven claims had their final exploration reports previously approved on February 8, 2022.
South Star has also launched Product Information Bulletins (PIBs) for a range of concentrate products for its Phase 1 operations.
"All 13 final exploration reports for the Santa Cruz Graphite project have been approved by the ANM. We have a large land package with approximately 13,000 hectares in one of the most prospective graphite producing regions in the world,” South Star president Richard Pearce said in a statement.
READ: South Star Battery Metals appoints key team members for Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Brazil
According to the USGS Mineral Commodities Summary for 2022, Brazil has the third-largest reserves of graphite in the world, while Turkey ranks second, and China controls the largest graphite reserves in the world.
“South Star has just increased Brazil's total by 17% with reported 43-101 reserve estimates of 12.3 metric ton (Mt) and a 12-year mine life, and the combined total of our ANM compliant resource estimates in the 13 Final Exploration Reports total over 40Mt," added Pearce. "This is a scalable, high-quality, world-class deposit that is just getting started, and South Star will be the first new graphite production in the Americas in more than a decade.”
He noted that 2022 and 2023 will be “transformative” for the company.
South Star launched the Product Information Bulletins (PIBs) for natural flake, and crystalline graphite concentrate products for the Santa Cruz Phase 1 operations. Flake size distributions vary from very fine (ASTM -325 mesh or 44 microns) to large flake (ASTM +30 mesh or 600 microns) and carbon grade ranging from 87% to 96%.
The PIBs present the physical and chemical characteristics of a range of products, and the company said it is engaged in “commercial talks” for the sale of 100% of the Phase 1 production.
South Star Battery Metals is focused on the acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. The Santa Cruz Graphite project, in southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of battery metals projects that will be put into production.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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