PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Talga has started trial mining at its Vittangi graphite project in north Sweden.
The 2021 trial mining campaign is extracting a 2 500 t sample of natural graphite from the Niska South deposit of Vittangi.
The raw ore will be processed and refined into the company’s flagship lithium-ion battery anode product Talnode-C, for large scale qualification trials in electric vehicle batteries.
“We are excited to start this trial graphite mine at Niska South to supply critical natural graphite for our downstream refining into greener Li-ion battery anodes for electric vehicles,” said Talga MD Mark Thompson.
“Additionally, seeing such shallow and high grade mineralisation extending from our drilling and deposits up to 3 km away demonstrates the consistency of this world-class graphite supply for more sustainable battery manufacturing within Europe.”
Site works include the installation of environmental monitoring systems, such as dust sampling and water treatment equipment, and fencing as well as roadworks and overburden removal, with stockpiling of topsoil for rehabilitation of the 100 m x 100 m site at the end of the 2021 campaign.
The anode product produced from this campaign will be the first large-scale use of natural graphite from the Niska part of Vittangi since successful metallurgical testing of the drill core for the Niska scoping study, which considered standalone production of some 85 000 t/y Talnode-C anode and some 8 500 t/y Talphene graphene for silicon anodes to be added to existing plans for 19 500 t/y of anode from Nunasvaara South.