JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Armadale Capital has started reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its high-grade Mahenge Liandu graphite project in Tanzania.
The company reported on Friday that RC drilling had started over a 2 km strike length within the project area.
1 400 m of drilling is planned – targeting graphite schist mineralisation – with results expected in the fourth quarter of the year.
Mineralisation has been confirmed by drilling, geological mapping and rock chip sampling at the southern extent of the 2 km strike.
“Having identified high-grade target areas through initial explorative work, our focus is now on defining a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource, with the drill campaign central to this,” says CEO William Frewen.
He adds that surging global demand for electric vehicles and power storage utilities are directly driving lithium-ion battery manufacturers to increase output.
“In turn, this dynamic creates excellent future opportunities for Armadale and added incentives to expedite progress of the Mahenge Liandu project.”
The project is located in the Ulanga district in south-east Tanzania, 300 km south-west of Morogoro and 10 km from the town of Mahenge.
High-grade graphite mineralisation of up to 33.8% total graphite carbon was demonstrated through analysis of rock-chip samples taken from Mahenge Liandu in June.
Previous drilling has confirmed high-grade mineralisation from the surface. The samples were taken from graphite schist outcrops over 1.5 km of strike surrounding the initial discovery holes, which was mapped by the previous owner.
The area is highly prospective for graphite with Mahenge Liandu located immediately to the east of ASX-listed Kibaran Resources’ Epanko project.