GreenRoc Mining shares rose 6.3% to 6.7p in late morning trading on Thursday, after the group reported a significant increase to the exploration target for its Amitsoq graphite deposit in Greenland.
The Amitsoq Graphite Project is one of the highest-grade graphite deposits in the world, and was updated to a tonnage range of 5-15 million tonnes (mt) at a grade range of 18-22% graphite carbon (cg), compared to its maiden resource estimate of 1.7-4.5 mt at a grade range of 24-36% gc.
The Greenland-focused company reported a Maiden Resource estimate for the deposit on 8 March 2022 of 8.2 mt of combined and inferred JORC Resource at an average grade of 19.7% cg, providing a complete graphite content of 1.6 mt.
GreenRoc said the deposit was open along strike, predominantly to the north, and down dip in the west, with testing scheduled in the upcoming phase two drilling programme later in 2022.
The firm added that there was considerable upside potential from the undrilled Kalaaq deposit to the south of the Amitsoq Island, with a revised exploration target calculation currently being undertaken for the operation.
The company highlighted the use of graphite in Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing, which it pointed out as a major driving factor behind rising graphite demand and prices.
GreenRoc commented that UBS estimated a natural graphite deficit of 3.7 mt by 2030, representing approximately 37% of the global market.
The mining group confirmed that the Amitsoq graphite has the potential to be upgraded to over 99.95% pure graphite product, a specific requirement in EV battery production, which would position GreenRoc to capitalise on the international transition to net zero carbon.
“Amitsoq is one of the highest-grade graphite deposits globally, and our graphite has been shown to be amenable to the production of the high purity graphite, which is the requirement for EV batteries,” said GreenRoc interim CEO Lars Brünner.
“Our focus now is on building our Resource tonnage to a level that will support a detailed feasibility study. The current Maiden Resource of 8.28Mt at an average grade of 19.75% Cg, giving a total graphite content of 1.63 Mt, is a fantastic result but we are confident we can improve this further and in so doing strengthen the commercial value of the Project.”
“More than half of the Exploration Target area for Amitsoq Island remains undrilled and the upcoming drill programme will focus on unlocking this Resource potential. We look forward to sharing further details in due course.”