Oar Resources Ltd (ASX:OAR) is readying to complete a 5,500-metres aircore drilling campaign and a new metallurgical test-work program for the Oakdale Graphite Project on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, home to Renascor Resources’ emerging Siviour Graphite Project.
The drilling program will target expansions and upgrades to the current JORC resources at Oakdale, designed to convert existing inferred resources to the indicated category while growing the current resource along strike and at depth.
Metallurgical tests will assess Oakdale graphite’s suitability for creating battery-grade spherical graphite for the production of lithium-ion batteries.
OAR has reduced the time and cost of this test-work by using core samples from previous diamond drilling, a strategy that will also provide cost-effective samples for a planned updated scoping study.
Graphite market “changed substantially”
“The company has undertaken a detailed review of its Oakdale Graphite Project with a view to assessing the project’s development options,” Oar Resources exploration manager Ross Cameron said.
“It is focused on a staged approach to expand on the previous work at the project, which includes metallurgical test-work to determine if the Oakdale graphitic material may produce a finer grade spherical graphite concentrate.
“This will be followed by an extensive drilling program to upgrade the existing inferred JORC resource.
“This staged approach will ensure the company is well-positioned to capitalise on the prevailing strength in the graphite market which has changed substantially for the better since the initial scoping study was undertaken in 2015, due to the demand for ethically sourced battery-grade graphite and the rapid uptake of electric vehicles.”
OAR has lodged a Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation (PEPR) with the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining, approval of which will clear the way for the aircore drilling program.