ock Exchange-listed company Triton Minerals has reported that it has found more graphite outcrops in its Ancuabe project area, which is located some 60 km west of the port city of Pemba, in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. It is one of three graphite projects that the company has in that province (the other two are Balama North and Balama South). All three projects are in the exploration phase, with activities having started in 2013. In all three cases, Triton currently owns 60% of the project but can increase this to 80% once mining starts.

In its latest update report to the Australian Stock Exchange, the company stated that “as a result of the recent reconnaissance mapping and sampling programme at the Ancuabe project, in Mozambique, the company has located further substantial graphitic mineralisation outcropping in a number of locations over a distance of up to 3.5 km in Licence 5336 and the presence of visible jumbo flake graphite.” (License 5336 is one the exploration licences granted to Triton for the Ancuabe project.)

“These latest results are another positive step forward for Triton in our goal [to produce] a large quantity of high-grade graphite concentrates in a wide range of flake sizes,” affirmed company MD and CEO Brad Boyle. “The average grade of the initial rock chip samples obtained from Ancuabe is 17.6% TGC (total graphitic carbon), with a maximum grade returned of 22.3% TGC. These assay results, together with the extremely large flakes in excess of 2 000 µm/5 to 10 mesh (mesh indicates the lateral size of the flakes) observed in hand specimens, are very encouraging. Our focus for 2015 remains on the continued rapid development of the Nicanda Hill resource; however, our exploration efforts this year will include the potential definition of a world-class jumbo-flake graphite resource at Ancuabe, which will complement the key proposed Nicanda Hill operation.” (Nicanda Hill, in the Balama North project, some 230 km west of Pemba, is currently the main focus of the company’s activities.)

The latest exploration work at Ancuabe occurred late last year and took the form of an airborne geophysical survey which covered 1 800 line kilometres. Most of the data gathered is still being processed. However, three new “large and significant conductive responses (typical of high-grade graphite mineralisation)” were discovered, the report states. It further notes: “These prospects, which are supported by positive rock chip sampling results, offer Triton the opportunity to test for additional near-surface high-grade, high purity and very large flake graphite . . . Triton is aiming to further test these new anomalies at Ancuabe in future exploration and drilling programmes later this year.”

Samples were collected from the southern section of Prospect Area 1 of the Licence 5336 property. A composite bulk sample of 100 kg has been sent to South African science council Mintek, in Johannesburg, for flake size distribution analysis. The first results are expected by late March.

Triton has also released assay results for four rock chip samples from the same location. The first of these had a mass of 2.6 kg, a TGC of 22%, a total carbon content of 23.2% and a sulphur content of 0.2%. The second had a mass of 3.3 kg, a TGC 17.1%, a total carbon content of 17.7% and a sulphur content of 0.11%. The third had a mass of 3.6 kg, with a TGC of 10.8%, 11.1% carbon and 0.29% sulphur. The fourth had a mass of 4.1 kg, 22.3% TGC, 22.7% carbon and 0.49% sulphur.

“Very large flake graphite sourced from Ancuabe may [enable] Triton . . . to produce a broad flake size range of high-quality graphite concentrates in order to cater for a variety of end-user requirements,” the company affirmed. “Triton is reviewing a number of development options in which the Ancuabe project may be incorporated into the Nicanda Hill operations in order to provide a greater commercial flexibility . . . Triton is investigating whether the Ancuabe project could be developed as either a standalone operation in close proximity to Pemba port facilities or [as one] transporting the graphitic material for treatment to the proposed Nicanda Hill operation.”