South Star Battery Metals Corp. (TSX-V:STS, OTCQB:STSBF) submitted a Planned Economic Analysis (PAE) and a request for a final mining license to the Brazilian Mining Authority (ANM) on Monday, the company announced.
The submissions cover a trio of claims where the company’s Phase 2 and Phase 3 facilities are planned at its Santa Cruz Graphite project, the company said. The proposed PAE doubles the Santa Cruz production capacity presented in the previously released PFS (March 2020) and incorporates the third phase of project development.
The planned concentrate production schedule includes two years of 5,000 tonnes per year (tpy) in Phase 1, two years of 25,000 tpy in Phase 2 and 50,000 tpy for the life of the mine (LOM) in Phase 3.
READ: South Star Battery Metals finalizes land purchase for Phase 1 mine construction at Santa Cruz Graphite Project in Brazil
“The 5 areas we have submitted requesting the definitive mining license incorporate all the facilities and structures required for Phase 2/3 and contain the main 7.5-kilometer strike that has been identified,” CEO Richard Pearce said in a statement.
“All the 43-101 reserves estimated to date are located on these 5 claims, and we are open at depth and in both directions along strike. Our goals are to work towards having the mining licenses and environmental permits for the 5-7 priority claims approved around the time we are commissioning our Phase 1 facilities in mid-2023. This will allow us to advance quickly with Phase 2/3 financing alternatives.”
The approval of the PAEs and mining licenses is the final step in securing the LOM mining license for each of the exploration claims and converting them to mining concessions, the company said.
The environmental fieldwork is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2022, and the company plans to submit environmental documents for review and comment by early 2023.
Additionally, the company said that three tonnes of ore from its Ceylon Graphite Project in Coosa County, Alabama have been delivered to North Carolina State Mineral Research Laboratory (MRL) and that testing should begin shortly.
The program's goal is to create a representative 1-tonne ore sample to retest and confirm processing methods and reagents from previous process work. This small-scale pilot test will also generate approximately 15-18 kilograms of concentrates (> 94% Curium), as well as intermediate products and tailings samples.
The pilot plant program should be finalized in November, the company said, at which point the concentrates will be used to test for a variety of value-add products.
“We will work hard with our partners to have the first two new graphite mines in the Americas brought online and the first in the United States,” Pearce said. “We have two great assets in key jurisdictions and an experienced team with the technical and commercial expertise to bring these operations online and be profitable moving forward."
South Star is a Canadian battery metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas.
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