London-listed Tirupati Graphite has started with Stage 2 of a drilling and exploration programme across its flake graphite projects in Madagascar.
The company also announced that consultancy SRK Mining Services, based in India, has been appointed to oversee the Stage 2 programme and upgrade the current mineral resource statement for the Vatomina and Sahamamy projects in the country.
Across the two projects and over a period of six months, the Stage 2 programme comprises 10 000 m of auger drilling, 1 000 m of trenching and 5 000 m of diamond core drilling.
An updated mineral estimate will be followed by geotechnical, mining, hydrogeological, processing and infrastructure-related studies.
The Stage 1 drilling programme included 8 822 m of auger and diamond core drilling, pitting and trenching to a depth of 50 m.
The total mineral resource estimate for the Vatomina project stands at 18.4-million tonnes grading 4.6% total graphite content, while the Sahamamy project stands at 7.1-million tonnes grading 4.20% total graphite content.
Tirupati CEO Shishir Poddar comments that, in line with the company’s rigorous step-by-step strategy, it continues to multitask work programmes and progress the development timelines of its primary flake graphite projects in Madagascar in a cost effective and time efficient manner across the portfolio.
“Through engaging SRK to oversee the implementation of our Stage 2 programme, as well as aid us in carrying out a resource definition exploration programme, we have committed to enhancing our mineral resource base at Vatomina and Sahamamy, which will further underpin our ambitious development plans for our primary operations in Madagascar.”