JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Beowulf has started drilling at its Aitolampi graphite project, which forms part of the Pitkäjärvi 1 exploration permit in Finland.
The company has plans to drill about 2 000 m, up to 15 drill holes, with the drilling programme split into two phases. The drilling contract has been awarded to a local Finnish contractor, Oy Northdrill.
The first phase will be drilled on snow covered ground and take three to four weeks to complete, with samples being sent for analysis and testwork concurrently with drilling. After the information collected from the first phase of drilling has been fully analysed, the second phase of drilling will start, most likely in the summer of 2018.
"It's great to be back drilling at Aitolampi, and working again with local Finnish contractor Northdrill, who did an excellent job for us in 2017.
"There's a growing buzz in Finland regarding battery minerals and metals, and we hope to take advantage of this,” commented CEO Kurt Budge.
The drilling programme for this year will support Beowulf’s objectives of defining a maiden resource of four-million to five-million tonnes, following the guidelines of the Joint Ore Reserves Committee code and conducting a scoping study.