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Murray Ward
Sarytogan Graphite has significantly extended copper mineralisation at its Ilksan prospect in central Kazakhstan, delivering a massive 318-metre-long intersection from surface to the end of the hole.
The result comes from the second of a three-hole diamond drill program and follows a similarly impressive 229-metre hit from the first hole. The company says the new hole has confirmed it’s onto a large, fertile copper porphyry system.
The latest intersection came in with a headline figure of 318m grading 0.14 per cent copper and 0.027 grams per tonne gold from surface. Within the broad mineralised envelope, several higher-grade zones stand out, including 18.9m at 0.29 per cent copper from just 5m downhole and a solid 15.2-metre section grading 0.4 per cent copper from 163.4m.
The result builds on the success of the program’s first hole, which previously returned a 229-metre intercept at an almost identical grade of 0.14 per cent copper from surface. The company says the consistency between the two holes, drilled 150m apart, points to a large-scale system. The Ilksan prospect forms part of the broader Baynazar copper exploration project,just 25km south-west of Sarytogan’s world-class graphite deposit.
‘The diamond drill core and assays at Ilksan demonstrate the presence of a fertile copper porphyry system.’
Sarytogan Graphite managing director Sean Gregory
According to Sarytogan, geological indicators such as elevated copper grades, potassic alteration and the presence of “B-veins”, a type of quartz vein commonly associated with porphyry copper systems, suggest the drilling is getting closer to the core of the porphyry system, where higher grades are typically found. At Ilksan, the B veins contain quartz, biotite, magnetite, potassium feldspar and chalcopyrite.
Sarytogan Graphite managing director Sean Gregory said: “The diamond drill core and assays at Ilksan demonstrate the presence of a fertile copper porphyry system. The results of the deeper 3rd hole are eagerly anticipated.”
The Ilksan discovery is the culmination of a systematic exploration campaign that began with a review of historical Soviet-era records. That work highlighted two shallow drill holes from the 1970’s that hit copper mineralisation, with grades reportedly increasing with depth.
Since pegging the ground in 2024, the company has completed high-resolution magnetics, collected more than 6000 soil samples and conducted trenching, which returned a 270m-long intercept at 0.13 per cent copper. Subsequent shallow drilling then defined a 600m-diameter bedrock anomaly with grades up to 0.5 per cent copper, paving the way for the current deeper diamond drill campaign.
The move into copper appears to be a shrewd diversification play, leveraging the company’s established in-country exploration expertise and its deep knowledge of Kazakh permitting.
The project sits in a region known for its mining prowess. Kazakhstan is a highly prospective jurisdiction for copper porphyry mines, with some of the world’s lowest-cost copper operations situated there, benefiting from low power, diesel and skilled labour costs.
Elsewhere, just 25km to the northeast, recent testwork on a 24-tonne bulk sample of ore at Sarytogan’s flagship graphite deposit landed some eye-catching results. The test produced 30kg of coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG), delivering a hefty 97.7 per cent yield, eclipsing the typical industry range of 50 to 60 per cent.
And perhaps more significantly, the end product reached a whopping 99.99 per cent purity, comfortably surpassing the typical 99.95 per cent lithium-ion battery requirement. The company is now preparing a 5kg sample of CSPG to ship to a leading European prototyping organisation. The material will be used to manufacture and test large format pouch cell batteries, a key step in qualifying the product for European offtake partners.
With two long, consistent copper intercepts now in the bag, all eyes will likely be on the assays from the third and deepest hole of the program. That hole was drilled a further 150m north and terminated at 452m depth when the budget was exhausted.
If Sarytogan is right and it is indeed closing in on the high-grade core of this big porphyry system, the results from that deeper hole could make things very interesting very quickly for the Perth-based explorer.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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