1,000m High-Grade DD Campaign At Maniry Graphite Project
BlackEarth Minerals NL (ASX: BEM) has commenced drilling at the Maniry Graphite Project in southern Madagascar, following the completion of preparatory planning and trenching for this targeted high grade drilling campaign.
The proposed initial drill programme for 1,000m of diamond drilling will target Razafy Northwest which was identified as a high priority target following initial trenching work completed Q1 2019.
The aim of the current diamond drill programme is to not only gain a better understanding of the scale and potential of the domain, but also to further delineate high grade mineralisation to compliment the initial stages of a mining operation.
In 2019, BEM undertook trenching at Razafy Northwest which returned assays that included: 48m at 10.22%TGC and 12m at 13.32%TGC.
The results highlighted the potential for further high-grade resources proximal to the defined Razafy Resource and ultimately the potential to further enhance the value of the Project. The previous exploration programme resulted in 47 trenches being excavated for a total of 4,314 metres across the Razafy Northwest area.
The 2019 programme extended the known mineralisation within the ‘Razafy Domain’ to more than 5km in length and is consequently the main focus of current exploration efforts by BlackEarth.
All exploration works will be carried within the company’s Exploration Target area containing an estimated 260Mt-380Mt at 6-8%TGC.
The company believes the current drill programme could provide a material increase to both the stated overall Resource size and average grade.
The southern Madagascan region continues to grow and develop as a premium precinct for large and jumbo flake graphite.
The region has a favourable climate, with less interruption to production and infrastructure by seasonal climatic changes and the cyclone season that often impacts the north and east of the country.
The southern Madagascan corridor has, over the past decade, enjoyed massive levels of exploration and development of potential mining sites includings those held by the company and the developing Molo Project held by Nextsource Material. Rio Tinto’s $1 billion Minerals Sands project is also within the Southern Madagascar development region.
Adjacent and closest to the Company’s projects is the port city of Fort Dauphin which was the first French Port city developed in Madagascar. The port is a modern deep water port built by the World Bank and Rio Tinto in 2009 and is well designed and suitable to the cost effective export of graphite concentrate.
The company is currently in discussions with port operators and is well positioned to secure exclusive access agreements as and when required.
Successful completion of the current drill program will also assist the company in finalising and further developing it down stream processing plans.
Expanding the company’s Resource of large and jumbo and also fine flake product, allows additional value to be attributed to the assessment of downstream graphite production options.
As at today, the company continues to assess a number of downstream processing options and the additional value of an upgrading resource will assist the company and its MOU and Sales and Marketing partners, and others, to advance these plans.
The demand for graphite continues to grow and expand, and the company is well positioned to enter a number of supply markets with its superior and premium products at an exciting stage in the expansion of the EV and alternative energy markets.
