A trawl through 2022 drilling samples from the Millennium project in North-West Queensland has turned up thick, high-grade graphite intersections.

Metal Bank initiated the program to re-assay selected copper-cobalt-gold core samples after recent drilling results highlighted the presence of the key battery metal in the deposit.

The project stands in a potential graphite development hot spot for Queensland, with nearby graphite sites including the Corella, Burke and Mount Dromedary deposits.

Significant results from the re-assay program included:

• 56m at 18.29 per cent graphite from 66m
• 20m at 14.05 per cent graphite from 64m
• 49m at 12.97 per cent graphite from surface, and 14m at 18.88 per cent graphite from 64m

“We are on record stating we are unlocking and adding value to our Australian projects and this is a fantastic demonstration of low-cost work that adds a large amount of value to our Millennium project,” Metal Bank executive chair Inés Scotland said.

Related: Metal Bank zooms in on Millennium graphite potential

“These intersections are near surface, over more than 2km of strike and are within or immediately adjacent to the current pit modelling and what was previously characterised as barren waste rock in our copper-cobalt-gold resource.

“With the median grade of graphite deposits globally around 7.7 per cent (USGS, 2024) and the average lithium battery having 20 to 30 times the graphite content vs lithium, there is demand for this critical mineral.

“We will continue to assess graphite potential, including metallurgy and further drilling, to add further value for the Millennium copper-cobalt-gold project.”

The planned work to unlock the site’s graphite potential includes additional surface mapping and sampling as well as metallurgical testing to determine recovery, graphite flake size, sphericity and purity.

Metal Bank also plans further drilling to refine a near-term scope for a graphite exploration target and/or mineral resource.

The company also continues to monitor the North-West Queensland battery metals space as projects and infrastructure develop.

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