KNG files mining lease application for Australia’s largest graphite deposit

An application to convert the Leliyn project to a mining lease has been submitted
Work is underway to produce a bulk concentrate sample as part of strategy to supply EV battery market
Production of the bulk concentrate sample is expected to take several months with results available in 2025

Special report: Kingsland Minerals is moving ahead with a mining lease application at its 194.9Mt Leliyn graphite project, already considered Australia’s largest graphite deposit in the NT.

China is on track to account for more than 70% of natural graphite production this year, further highlighting the need for supply outside the Middle Kingdom.

Kingsland Minerals (ASX:KNG) is one of a handful of advanced graphite stocks in Australia looking to bring its Leliyn graphite project into development and ultimately, production.

Leliyn boasts an inferred resource of 194.6 million tonnes grading 7.3% total graphite content (TGC) for 14.2Mt of contained graphite as well as exploration target of 700Mt to 1.1 billion tonnes at 7-8% TGC for 50-90Mt of contained graphite.

KNG has started more advanced metallurgical test work and additional drilling to upgrade resources from inferred to the higher confidence indicated category to support mine planning.

Progressively de-risking Leliyn

A mining lease application has also now been lodged, paving the way for potential development at Leliyn and representing a catalyst for negotiations with other stakeholders including Native Title applicants.

As well as covering the current inferred resource, the application accounts for a sufficient area to include a future processing facility, office and workshop infrastructure, waste dumps and tailing storage facilities.

“The application of a mining lease over the Leliyn graphite project demonstrates our conviction in the development potential of this important, critical minerals project,” KNG managing director Richard Maddocks says.

“Additional drilling, combined with further metallurgical test-work, will provide an important milestone.

“As we progressively de-risk the Leliyn project, its potential to be a future supplier of flake graphite products is closer to being realised.”

What else is happening?

Additional metallurgical work has kicked off with 150kg of diamond drill core, sourced from the 2023 drilling campaign, now submitted to Independent Metallurgy Operations Pty Ltd (IMO) of Perth to produce a bulk concentrate sample.

A sample of about 10-15kg of graphite concentrate will be produced by standard flotation methods.

This bulk concentrate sample will be further tested for the production of downstream graphite products including spherical graphite used in electric vehicle batteries.

This production of the bulk concentrate sample and the downstream test-work is expected to take several months with results not completed until 2025.

Meanwhile, a 3,000m infill RC drilling program has been planned and will focus on an area within the current inferred resources and enable an upgrade of some resources from inferred to indicated.

This article was developed in collaboration with Kingsland Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.