International Graphite’s Springdale Graphite Project, in Western Australia, is now the second largest graphite deposit in Australia and one of the top 15 in the world, with an estimated 49.3 million tonnes @ 6.5% total graphitic content (TGC). About 27% of the Mineral Resource is now at the Indicated level of surety.
Springdale is expected to supply graphite concentrate to feed the company’s downstream processing operations, at Collie, in a vertically integrated mine-to-market operation that will potentially be the first in this Tier 1 mining jurisdiction.
Springdale also has outstanding future growth potential. Only ~10% of tenement areas and ~20% of exploration targets have been explored to date. The high-grade, fine flake deposit has excellent metallurgical characteristics for battery anode material and is ideal for a shallow and long-life open pit mining operation with 18.0 million tonnes @ 6.8% in readily accessible oxide / transitional material.
Feasibility studies and mine planning are underway and the Company expects mine construction to begin in 2024, once approvals are in place.
Springdale Graphite Mineral Resource Estimate Summary (JORC 2012)
| Springdale JORC 2012 Mineral Resource estimate (using 2% TGC cut-off) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Tonnes (Mt) | Graphite (TGC%) | Contained Graphite (Mt) |
| Indicated | 11.5 | 7.5 | 0.9 |
| Inferred | 37.8 | 6.1 | 2.3 |
| Total | 49.3 | 6.5 | 3.2 |
| Springdale JORC 2012 Mineral Resource estimate (using 5% TGC cut-off) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Tonnes (Mt) | Graphite (TGC%) | Contained Graphite (Mt) |
| Indicated | 7.9 | 9.3 | 0.7 |
| Inferred | 20.1 | 8.5 | 1.7 |
| Total | 28 | 8.7 | 2.4 |
Exploration and Drilling
A new Mineral Resource Estimate for the Springdale Graphite Project was released in September 2023 upgrading the existing resource by a massive 3.4 times. The estimate takes the existing resource from 15.3Mt @ 6.0% Total Graphitic Carbon (TGC) to 49.3Mt @ 6.5%TGC (at 2% TGC cut-off). 27% of Mineral Resource classified as Indicated – sufficient for long term mine planning – and more than 10% was contributed by a new graphite discovery at Mason Bay, just 2km to the east.
Electromagnetic geophysical survey data has proven to be highly effective in identifying conductive zones and has pinpointed seven priority exploration targets within 2.5km of the main Springdale Mineral Resource. Currently, only ~10% of IG6 tenement area has been explored and 20% of exploration targets have been tested.
Location and Geology
The Springdale project currently comprises two exploration licences and a prospecting license covering approximately 180 square kilometres in the Shire of Ravensthorpe, on the southern coast of Western Australia. Located around 25km east of Hopetoun and 150km from the major export port of Esperance, the region is a strong mining hub, with established infrastructure and services, and home to major operations such as First Quantum Minerals’ Ravensthorpe nickel mine and Galaxy Resources’ Mt Cattlin lithium mine. The Springdale project is in the Albany Frazer Belt, a resource-rich geological anomaly stretching several thousand kilometres north-east from Albany, and one of Australia’s most sought-after exploration regions.
Metallurgy and Processing
Metallurgical analysis in Germany has shown that concentrate from Springdale is suitable for the production of high value micronised and spherical graphite, as precursors to battery anode material. Flotation testwork studies have reported graphite purity of 95% with potential for the material to be purified to +99.95% graphite.
A simple crushing grinding and flotation process will be used to treat the graphite ore at the future Springdale minesite. This will produce a ~95% graphite concentrate that will then be trucked to the company’s Collie facility for value-added processing.
