Canadian headquartered mining firm Ceylon Graphite is preparing to ship graphite to Singapore and Korea after securing its first sales since launching commercial production at its K1 site in Sri Lanka last December.
The firm’s subsidiary Sarcon Development is sending one ton of vein graphite, with carbon content of 95-97%, to 2D Materials so the Singaporean additives firm can evaluate it for its graphene production needs.
Sarcon is also shipping 300 kilograms of vein graphite with a carbon content of 95-97% to Elves Graphite of Seoul, South Korea. The graphite will be evaluated for its suitability for battery manufacturers in South Korea.
Bharat Parashar, chief executive office of Ceylon Graphite, said: “Korea is a large market for high purity graphite.
“We believe that our graphite is ideally suited to meet the high standards of the South Korean lithium-ion battery industry.
“We know from our own testing and the historical record of Sri Lankan graphite that we have a high-quality vein graphite. This is the next step in accelerating our production rate.”
Sri Lankan graphite is recognised as some of the purest in the world, which combined with a low cost of production, makes it ideal for manufacturing into battery-grade graphite for lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.
K1 operates under the Sarcon Development’s legal umbrella. The site has received an Industrial Mining License Category A from the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau.
Category A is the highest category license in Sri Lanka and grants exclusive rights to mine, process and trade in graphite mined within the area specified in the license. It also allows for underground multi-borehole blasting, commercial production, use of all mining machinery and equipment and export of graphite.