The world’s biggest known graphite resource just got bigger.
Perth based Triton Minerals recently released an upgrade to its Nicanda Hill graphite project in Mozambique that saw the average grade of the massive 1.44b tonne resource increase to just over 11% graphite and 0.29% Vanadium Pentoxide.
The company added 4.4m tonnes of pure graphite to its in-situ resource by increasing its size from 155.9m tonnes of contained graphite to 160.3m tonnes.
The company also increased its substantial in ground Vanadium Pentoxide estimate from 3.93m tonnes to 4.2m tonnes.
The Nicanda Hill deposit now comprises of 33mt of measured resources grading 12.3% graphite, 375m tonnes of indicated resources grading 11.1% and a massive 1036m tonnes also grading 11.1% with an inferred status.
Interestingly it took 21 864 metres of drilling to define the 1.44b tonne resource which means the company, on average, discovered 66 000 tonnes of resource grading 11.1% graphite for every metre drilled at the project.
Triton says that the 33m tonnes of resource that currently sits at measured status alone will form the basis of the initial ten years of mine life with over a billion tonnes still in the armoury after that.
Triton Minerals Managing Director and CEO Brad Boyle said “The area, in which the initial measured resource of 33 million tonnes (Mt) at 12.3%TGC has been defined, represents a small fraction of the entire resource area. Triton is confident that the measured resource can be increased almost five-fold. However, increasing the measured component of the resource is not an immediate priority as the initial 33Mt is more than adequate for the projected first ten year’s life of mine.”
