MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - May 24, 2017) - Sama Graphite Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SRG) ("SRG" or the "Company") today announced that preliminary results received from its drilling program currently underway on the Lola Graphite property in the Republic of Guinea, have significantly expanded the Company's perceived potential of the property.
Highlights
- Approximately 50% of the drilling program has been completed
- Thickness of the weathered profile extends to a depth of up to 30 to 35 meters, considerably more thickness than the originally anticipated depth of 20 meters
- Presence of massive graphite veins
- Assay results confirm the high-grade potential, comparing favourably with first-tier prominent graphite occurrences worldwide for graphitic carbon grade
- Size distribution and chemical purity place the Lola Graphite deposit among the very few flake graphite deposits with such high flake yield and purity
The 4,800-meter drilling program is underway on the property with an objective to delineate National Instrument 43-101 mineral resources. The Company has completed 83 boreholes totalling approximately 2,300 meters, representing approximately 50% of the program.
The drilling program started testing the eastern edge of the deposit and its boundary with the barren gneiss; composite results shown in Table 1 are from the first 15 boreholes from that area. Drilling has now moved to the core of the mineralization where the thickness of the weathered profile exceeds the initially estimated 20 meters considerably, with several holes demonstrating thicknesses of up to 30 to 35 meters and resulting in an average weathered profile of approximately 28 meters. Assays results for the core sector are still pending.
Furthermore, recent drilling has intercepted several occurrences of semi-massive to massive graphite vein material. These intercepts range from a few centimeters to up to 1.1-meters thick in four boreholes. The presence of these amorphous graphite veins support the magmatic origin of the carbon material, hence its exceptional chemical purity. The exceptional chemical purity of the Lola Graphite deposit contrasts greatly when compared with numerous other graphite deposits in the world as the carbon in other graphite deposits carries impurities such as vanadium and molybdenum, which necessitate removal.
The current drilling program aims at producing the first mineral estimates that will be included in the Preliminary Economic Assessment planned for Q4 2017. Boreholes are drilled on a 50 m x 20 m and 100 m x 20 m drilling spacing covering approximately 16% of the total surface area of deposit as defined by geological mapping, a geophysical Max-Min survey and previous drilling and pitting. Graphitic carbon tenors obtained in the first 15 boreholes (Table 1) of the current campaign are well aligned with expectations as the area drilled at the eastern boundary was just off the core of the deposit.
Table 1
The following table illustrates the details of the mineralized intervals for 15 holes drilled at the Lola Graphite Deposit. Intervals were defined using 1.0% Cg cut-off grades.
| HOLE-ID | FROM | TO | LENGTH | CG | ||||
| LL45-085401 | 3.00 | 27.10 | 24.10 | 5.35 | ||||
| Including | 12.20 | 25.00 | 12.80 | 8.32 | ||||
| LL45-102406 | 0.00 | 11.50 | 11.50 | 5.29 | ||||
| Including | 1.50 | 6.15 | 4.65 | 9.07 | ||||
| LL45-121413 | 0.00 | 25.00 | 25.00 | 6.66 | ||||
| Including | 6.00 | 24.00 | 18.00 | 8.93 | ||||
| LL45-089460 | 0.00 | 23.50 | 23.50 | 4.34 | ||||
| LL45-106466 | 0.00 | 36.00 | 36.00 | 3.23 | ||||
| Including | 25.50 | 36.00 | 10.50 | 10.00 | ||||
| LL45-125471 | 0.00 | 10.50 | 10.50 | 9.28 | ||||
| Including | 0.00 | 7.50 | 7.50 | 11.29 | ||||
| LL45-115317 | 0.00 | 16.50 | 16.50 | 4.55 | ||||
| LL45-133324 | 2.00 | 18.10 | 16.10 | 6.10 | ||||
| Including | 9.00 | 18.10 | 9.10 | 9.12 | ||||
| LL45-191342 | 0.00 | 22.10 | 22.10 | 4.50 | ||||
| Including | 19.50 | 20.00 | 0.50 | 22.00 | ||||
| LL45-208350 | 0.00 | 10.50 | 10.50 | 4.00 | ||||
| Including | 4.50 | 6.00 | 1.50 | 14.20 | ||||
| LL45-096311 | 0.00 | 26.00 | 26.00 | 3.92 | ||||
| LL45-199501 | 3.00 | 7.50 | 4.50 | 2.21 | ||||
| LL45-095516 | 0.00 | 10.50 | 10.50 | 4.01 | ||||
| Including | 3.00 | 6.00 | 3.00 | 8.27 | ||||
| LL45-114522 | 0.00 | 32.00 | 32.00 | 7.98 | ||||
| Including | 9.70 | 30.00 | 20.30 | 12.31 | ||||
| LL45-170542 | 0.00 | 31.30 | 31.30 | 5.25 | ||||
| Including | 15.10 | 31.30 | 16.20 | 9.47 |
The Lola Graphite deposit can be compared to the leading group of properties in terms of graphite flake size distribution and chemical purity. Results from flotation tests indicate that 89% of the concentrate is made of super-jumbo, jumbo and large flakes sizes. Super-jumbo flake size (>0.50 mm) accounts for 29% of the concentrate with purities of 96% and 97% Cg (reference SRG's press release dated February 21, 2017).
Purification tests performed by ProGraphite GmbH confirmed that the graphite could easily be upgraded with standard processes to levels above 99.5%, with most elements, already under the limits for battery applications. The purification performed during testing was "mild" compared to the "harsh" purification usually applied for lithium-ion battery grade graphite, thereby attesting again to the likelihood that the material will be very suitable for such an application. Furthermore, the combination of very favourable ash composition, high crystallinity, high oxidation resistance and excellent purification behaviour makes the graphite very valuable for demanding new tech applications, including energy applications and particularly with regard to spherical graphite for lithium-ion batteries.
Drilling was performed using Sama Resources' Coretech core drill rig. Core logging and sampling were performed at SRG's facility in Gogota village. Sample preparations were performed by Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratory's facility in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Pulp samples were delivered to Activation Laboratories Ltd, Ancaster, Thunder Bay, Canada for assaying. All samples were assayed for graphitic carbon by infrared.
About Sama Graphite Inc. (SRG)
SRG is a Canadian-based company focused on developing the Lola Graphite deposit, located in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. SRG is committed to operate in a socially, environmentally and ethically responsible manner.
For additional information, please visit SRG's website at www.srggraphite.com.
