Mason Graphite tests 99.9% pure Cg at Lac Gueret
2013-09-24 07:14 ET - News Release
Mr. Benoit Gascon reports
MASON GRAPHITE ACHIEVES PURITY OF 99.9% GRAPHITIC CARBON FROM PRELIMINARY PURIFICATION TRIALS
Purities of 99.9 per cent graphitic carbon have been obtained from preliminary studies testing the purification of the graphite concentrates from Mason Graphite Inc.'s flagship Lac Gueret project located in northeastern Quebec.
The graphite concentrate of 99.9 per cent Cg was achieved using a conventional hydrometallurgical process conducted at SGS Canada Inc. in Ontario. The purification trials were conducted on graphite concentrates that were produced by SGS during recently completed lock cycle tests. The trials were carried out on three coarse size fractions of graphite: plus 48, plus 80 and plus 150 mesh.
Benoit Gascon, president and chief executive officer of Mason Graphite, commented: "Having reached 99.9 per cent Cg from the very first run of testing, without any optimization, reaffirms our belief in the exceptional quality of the graphite hosted on our property. These high purity levels are required in many industrial applications including electrochemical applications like lithium-ion batteries which are used in electric vehicles, portable electronics and cordless power tools, which represent a significant and growing market."
RESULTS FOR THE CAUSTIC BAKE
PROCESS TRIAL
Size fraction Graphite (% Cg)
Plus 48 mesh 99.6
Plus 80 mesh 99.7
Plus 150 mesh 99.9
Mason Graphite will now move forward with larger scale testing designed to optimize the purification process and further improve these excellent results.
Upcoming mineral resource estimate and technical report update
An updated mineral resource estimate for the Lac Gueret project is underway by Roche Ltd. Consulting Group. All the data obtained from the company's 2012 drilling campaign were transferred to Roche on Aug. 1, 2013, and geological interpretations are progressing well. This will be followed by 3-D modelling of the mineralization and subsequently an update to the mineral resource estimate itself, which is expected by the end of November, 2013. Upon completion of the foregoing, the company's technical report for the Lac Gueret project will be updated accordingly.
The latest mineral resource estimate for Mason Graphite's Lac Gueret project was published in July, 2012, and features 300,000 tonnes at 24.4 per cent Cg in the measured category and 7.3 million tonnes at 20.2 per cent Cg in the indicated category. These calculations were based on 25 drill holes (obtained from 2003 and 2006), for a total of 2,285 metres of drilling and 908 samples analyzed.
The new data from the 2012 drilling campaign which will be used to update the mineral resource estimate represents an additional 146 holes for a total of 24,345 metres of drilling and 15,507 samples analyzed.
Quality control and assurance
Graphitic carbon analyses were performed by SGS on an Elemental analyzer (Leco) following standard analysis protocols. All reported results have an associated measurement uncertainty based on the expected precision and accuracy relating to the method and sample concentration. Values at 100 per cent should not be treated as pure products without additional impurity testing.
Jean L'Heureux, Eng, Mason Graphite's executive vice-president of process development and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of the purification trials section of this press release.
Nathalie Guillemette, PGeo, a consultant to the company and a qualified persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101 has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of the mineral resource estimate section of this press release.
SGS has reviewed and approved the content of the purification trials section of this press release.
Roche has reviewed and approved the content of the mineral resource estimate section of this press release.
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