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Doug Bright
Sarytogan Graphite has significantly extended the known copper mineralisation at its Ilksan prospect in central Kazakhstan, with the third diamond drill hole of its current program returning a massive 452-metre copper intercept from surface.
The latest result assayed 0.063 per cent copper from surface to the end of the hole, confirming a large-scale copper porphyry system at the company’s Baynazar project.
The new hit complements two previously reported long intercepts from the same program.
The first diamond hole reamed out 229m at 0.14 per cent copper from surface, including two higher-grade zones of 11.6m @ 0.26% copper and 407ppm molybdenum from 33.8m and 16.2m going 0.36 per cent copper, 0.12 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 1.4g/t silver Ag from 159.7m.
‘The other prospects at Baynazar are all lined up ready to progress through the exploration pipeline.’
Sarytogan Graphite managing director Sean Gregory
The second hole returned an even longer 318-metre intercept going at 0.14 per cent copper and 0.027g/t gold, from surface to the end of the hole, featuring an 18.9-metre section grading 0.29 per cent copper and 0.093g/t gold from just 5m below surface. Two higher-grade deeper zones included 8.6m at 0.25 per cent copper and 0.081g/t gold from 41.2m and 15.2m running at 0.40 per cent copper, 0.082g/t gold and 1.8g/t silver from 163.4m.
The trio of holes, all strongly mineralised from top to bottom, paint a picture of a large, potential bulk-tonnage mineralised system, characteristic of porphyry deposits – the geological giants responsible for the majority of the world’s copper production.
Sarytogan says the mineralisation appears to be getting stronger to the south, providing a clear direction for follow-up drilling. Management has also identified a high-priority target 300m to the west where bedrock anomalism shows copper grades between 0.1 and 0.2 per cent.
Sarytogan Graphite managing director Sean Gregory said: “The 2026 diamond drilling program has been a great success, with Ilksan being confirmed to be of the copper porphyry style of mineralisation with thick intercepts over the entire length of the holes drilled. The vectors for further drilling at Ilksan are to the south, where drilled mineralisation is the strongest and to the west, where the bedrock copper and gold anomalism is now a high-priority target.”
The Baynazar copper project was pegged by the company in 2024 and sits just 25km southwest of its namesake world-class Sarytogan graphite deposit. The move has enabled the company to leverage its established exploration team, pursue fresh exposure to an increasingly in-demand metal and capitalise on its deep knowledge and experience of the permitting process in Kazakhstan.
The region is a tier-one address for copper, with Kazakhstan known to be a highly prospective and established mining jurisdiction. It is home to four of the five lowest-cost copper mines in the world, largely due to low power, diesel and skilled labour costs.
While the copper results are compelling, Sarytogan’s main game remains its graphite deposit, which is a monster by any measure. The project holds a total mineral resource of 225 million tonnes at a remarkably high grade of 29.2 per cent total graphitic carbon for 66 million tonnes of contained graphite.
The sheer scale of the deposit is hard to overstate. A prefeasibility study completed in August 2024 outlined a 60-year mine life based on a maiden ore reserve of just 8.6 million tonnes, yet that would consume a mere four per cent of the total resource.
The project has been designated as a “Strategic Project” under the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act, highlighting its global significance in the supply chain for battery materials. Adding further weight, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) tipped in cash last November with a A$1.4M top-up placement to help progress the venture.
Sarytogan is now pushing towards a definitive feasibility study, due to be completed shortly. A key focus is producing high-value battery anode material, having already purified its graphite to an outstanding 99.9992 per cent, or “five nines” purity, through thermal processing alone.
With a globally significant graphite deposit marching inexorably towards development and a new, large-scale copper porphyry system emerging right next door, Sarytogan appears to be building a two-pronged strategy in the heart of Central Asia’s prodigious mineral endowment.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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