Sarytogan looking to bank water allocation for Kazakh graphite project
The Sherubainura River in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region is 281km long and sourced from the western slopes of the Kyzyltas range in the central Kazakh uplands. It is fed by rain and snow, seasonal meltwater and groundwater.
The river has an average discharge rate of about 5.04 cubic metres per second at Sherubainura and it is the principal tributary of the Nura River.
Three dams – the Zhartas, the Krasnopolyanskoye and the Sherubaynura have been constructed along the river.
Sarytogan Graphite managing director Sean Gregory said: “Water is a critical resource for any mining project. We are fortunate at Sarytogan to have identified a plentiful fresh water source near the project. Securing the water allocation will be another de-risking step towards realising the value of our extraordinary project.”
The company is drilling two more bores and pump-testing seven of its 11 bores, with a full spectrum of chemical and radiological testwork to be undertaken.
When the work has been completed, the company will be able to prepare its water extraction licence application.
This work, along with power and transport studies, metallurgical testwork and preparation of customer samples, will be used to form the company’s definitive feasibility study.
Sarytogan’s graphite project contains an estimated total mineral resource of 229 million tonnes with a total graphitic content of 28.9 per cent, translating to a total graphite content of 66mt. Its current estimated probable ore reserves amount to 8.6mt at 30 per cent total graphite content.
The company says its ore reserves amount to about 4 per cent of the total resource over a 60-year mine-life, pointing to a potentially multi-generational expansion capacity.
In contrast to most graphite projects in production or development, particularly those in East Africa, Sarytogan’s graphite is notable for its unique micro-crystalline nature.
This quality was identified early in the development of the project when the company’s ore material was found to break down readily to yield a premium micro-crystalline size of less than 15 micron with a very low bond work index.
The index is a key metric in mining and mineral processing and defines the resistance of ore to crushing and grinding. It helps to determine the power required for grinding and appropriate process-feed sizing.
Sarytogan’s ultra-fine graphite flake material can be seen in SEM images of flotation concentrates as highly crystalline, with x-ray diffraction examination showing it to be characterised by exceptionally close interplanar crystal spacing.
The material suits most advanced industrial uses, which usually demand ultra-fine sizing, including almost all battery types.
The majority of these demands can be met directly by Sarytogan’s ultra-fine graphitic products. Other manufacturers would typically incur higher costs due to the need for competing coarse graphitic flake products to be ground to finer specifications, often at higher work indices.
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