Kingsland quietly gets its schist together

Richard Maddocks says he’s had a “pretty busy” and “fruitful” year.  Knowing him as I do, his statement is the equivalent of former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh saying his boys put in a “decent effort” after winning the Ashes. This equally unassuming boss of Kingsland Minerals has turned an unnoticed uranium play into a top graphite contender in a year. 

 “I am indeed fond of my cricket, and Steve Waugh was a capable leader,” Maddocks says. “I think he would have made a good explorer because he was a good strategist, knows his history, and would never let an opportunity get past him,” Maddocks said. 

How we started with cricket instead of KNG’s huge 206-metre high-grade graphite intersection announced by Kingsland this week is typical of our conversations. The high-grade nature of the Leliyn deposit puts into play the potential for the company to enter the big league as a major supplier to the lithium battery industry.  

Kingsland, listed with the Cleo Uranium Project in June 2022, completed a drilling program and, within four months, developed a 6.8 million tonne high-grade uranium resource.  

But Maddocks, never complacent, took days off from a busy drilling schedule to investigate an area that bore the proper geological signatures for graphite. The only question was if it was untainted by other heavy metals. 

“Early indications were good, and we’re yet to be disappointed since we confirmed the 20-kilometre graphitic schist in February,” Maddocks says. 

Like many projects, the proof will be in the pudding. Many factors can derail advancement, and ‘natural graphite spherical grinding and shaping production incorporated with a flotation plant for anode material’ is a mouthful to say. 

Still, it may be highly doable, given the high grades of graphite recorded so far. 

Market Open’s resource analyst Mansoor Jan explains that Kingsland’s high grades can simplify the beneficiation process for anode-grade specifications and smoothing.  

“Good grades make everything better,” Jan says. 

“The high grades are supported with the first petrographic analysis that confirms graphite flake sizes potentially amenable to the downstream production of battery anode material,” Maddocks adds. 

“More test work is required, but knowing we have the right graphite flakes is encouraging.” 

With each drill result, confidence grows that this entire deposit is exceptional and has graphite flake sizes suitable for producing battery anode material. Although more drilling is needed, the work has confirmed the deposit’s vast tonnage scale. 

“By the end of the March 2024 quarter, we plan to complete an initial mineral resource assessment for the Leliyn Graphite deposit,” Maddocks says. 

“We’re excited to see the assessment results to learn about the deposit’s size and quality. We’re also interested in how the graphite ore performs in a flotation circuit, as we aim to produce a superior graphite concentrate. If successful, we’ll refine the process and produce the end goal – crucial purified spherical graphite for the lithium-ion industry.” 

11.3% Total Graphitic Carbon

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