JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Minerals exploration company Ardiden has significantly expanded the footprint of its flagship 100%-owned Manitouwadge jumbo flake graphite project in Ontario, Canada, with the acquisition of a package of nine new tenements that have increased the project’s total tenement area from 3 400 ha to 5 300 ha.
The land parcels had also increased the strike length of electromagnetic anomalies with graphite prospectivity within the project area from 6.2 km to 19.3 km.
Ardiden expected to secure approvals soon for a “major” new drilling programme in October to confirm the scale of the newly identified graphite zones.
Testwork at Manitouwadge had revealed that the graphite was amenable to low-cost gravity and flotation beneficiation, with grades of 95.6% for jumbo flake.
It had also found that graphite could be purified to 99.95% purity by using proven caustic bake purification methods.
“These flake sizes are the largest and most valuable flake size of graphite and are expected to be in high demand for new technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries for use in the rapidly growing electric vehicle and home or industrial battery storage markets,” said the group.
A review of other priority exploration areas on Ardiden’s tenements was, meanwhile, ongoing, with further sampling, trenching, drilling and metallurgical testwork planned.
Approvals for a drill programme had also been submitted to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, in advance of a drilling programme planned for the fourth quarter of the year that would target high-priority drill targets.