The global graphite market will grow 3.7% a year for the next five
years to reach $17.6 billion by 2020 states a recent report by
Persistence Market Research – with the bulk of that demand for
Large Flake Graphite widely used in the forever expanding
technology sector in batteries and electronics from cellphones to
electric cars.
Over 90% of today's graphite supply comes from China, and with
the demand for this shiny black carbon rock increasing drastically
so has the search for viable domestic graphite sources. A flurry of
new mineral exploration has commenced with the goal of finding a
domestic graphite source that can rival the current Chinese supply
– fueled by plans from Tesla Motors to build a $5 billion Nevada
based "Gigafactory" for production of batteries for use in both its
cars and in rooftop solar systems sold by SolarCity. The
Gigafactory is predicted to drive an increase of battery production
by a factor of 50-fold by 2020. Altogether, the demand for flake
graphite could increase by 40% by 2020.
Over the last year, mining exploration companies have rushed to
acquire domestic past producing graphite mines and historic
graphite discoveries that were not previously perceived as valuable
before the recent technology boom of smartphones and electric cars,
creating a whole new demand for graphite. One such mining company
focused on its recent Quebec graphite discovery is Caribou King
Resources. Publicly traded on the TSX Venture exchange under the
symbol (TSX-V:CKR) Caribou King has recently discovered some of the
highest grade graphite announced to date within this hotbed of
exploration concentrated in Southern Quebec - Canada. More
specifically, Caribou's Buckingham Graphite property has emerged as
a promising future source of large flake graphite. Buckingham is
comprised of eight mineral claim blocks within the Central
Metasedimentary Graphite Belt that has hosted many recent graphite
discoveries for a number of explorers.
Exposed graphite veins at the Buckingham property were recently
tested for graphite content and returned up to 56% Cg (Graphitic
Carbon) right out of the ground and were easily upgraded to over
99.9% Cg using a single flotation circuit and without expensive and
timely processes such as acid leach or alkaline roast, commonly
used to upgrade lower quality graphite to a useable purity
level.
"The Buckingham property appears to host ultra-high grade
vein-type graphite typically associated with China and Sri Lanka,"
stated Caribou Head Geologist Isabelle Robillard in an exclusive
interview with Financial Press, "It is very rare to find this type
of high quality graphite in North America. Our large flake graphite
is over 99% pure after floatation, which means that we will not
need further upgrading that is costly and environmentally harmful.
This will have a significant positive effect on the economics of
producing graphite from the Buckingham property."
Robillard states that the Buckingham project is close to the
historical Walker mine which also produced vein-type graphite
possibly in continuity with the Buckingham property. "The next step
is to do a geophysical survey in order to further delineate the
graphite veins," stated Robillard, "With high purity it doesn't
take a lot of graphite material to make the operation
profitable."
With 99%+ pure graphite garnering between $2000 - $3000 USD per
ton with prices upwards of $10,000 per ton for "nuclear" grade
purity, it doesn't take millions of tons to create a very
profitable operation with low Operating expenses due to the
Buckingham graphite veins running at surface.
Well-seasoned prospector Don McKinnon conducted the initial
Buckingham survey with a 'Beep Mat' – a miniaturized
electromagnetic survey instrument that detects conductive and
magnetic outcrops up to 10 feet in depth. "We went onto the
southeast portion of the property with the Beep Mat and it started
screaming," stated McKinnon, Everywhere we dug we found graphite
with enormous flakes plainly visible to the eye."
McKinnon states that Caribou has three valuable assets – but the
'spectacular purity of the Buckingham samples' dictates that
exploration and development money should be spent their first.
"One of the beauties of the Buckingham graphite is that it can
be found at surface," stated McKinnon, "So it's relatively easy to
locate with modern exploration techniques." "The purity of the
Buckingham graphite puts Caribou King in niche market," stated CEO
Michael England, "With end users who require this size and purity,
Caribou does not have to compete against larger companies with
lower grades. We are focusing on high grade veins – Quality over
Quantity is the name of the game at this time."
"The purity is of great importance," continued England, "You
have some beautiful graphite deposits around the world, but if
they're loaded with sulfides, they tend to have weak economics.
When you have to build a mill to extract the sulfides, the cost per
ton goes up substantially and so does the environmental impact of
the project. So having high grade – high purity graphite at surface
is exciting."
"We have been receiving phone calls from end users in Europe
'We've noticed you are getting 99.9% purity from flotation – could
you please send us with samples for our own analysis'" stated
McKinnon, "So I jumped in my truck, drove to the property, scraped
off the snow, found my trench from last summer, dug out a sample
and shipped it off." Caribou now has exposure to a full project
value chain from a European relationship that provides analytical
facilities and strong contacts in downstream industries to evaluate
and process technical samples.
"The next step is to take a more powerful Electromagnetic survey
tool, and get a reading about 30 feet deep," stated McKinnon, "And
then we are going to do an extremely tight grid over top of this
area and see how many veins there are and how deep they go." "In
the next 12 months our goal is to establish a resource of
ultra-high grade graphite on the Buckingham property, this can be
achieved quickly and cheaply. As the first step to establishing a
43-101 resource calculation, we run an EM survey, dig trenches,
take assays and send them to the lab for purity testing."
In parallel to an aggressive exploration program on the
Buckingham graphite property, England's team has prioritised
further metallurgical studies to help in characterizing and
defining this unique graphite deposit.
Used in batteries, electric cars, nuclear reactors, fuel cells
and solar power systems – large flake graphite is a critical
ingredient in a surging wave of popular modern technology (electric
vehicles, tablets, cell phones, etc.).
"If the Buckingham grades remain consistent, I believe the
Buckingham property and others like it could be the key to securing
domestic graphite supply sources, thus ending the reliance on
importing graphite and creating North American independence for
this fast growing commodity of the future," England finishes.
Caribou King Resources holds multiple highly prospective
graphite properties in Quebec and is currently trading on the TSX
Venture exchange under the symbol "CKR".
Legal Disclaimer/Disclosure: This document is not and should not
be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to
purchase or subscribe for any investment. Financial Press makes no
guarantee, representation or warranty and a fee has been paid for
the production and distribution of this Report.
CONTACT: Caribou King Resources Ltd.
(604) 683-3995
info@caribouking.com
www.caribouking.com
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