Louisa knew what's what, you can bet on it.
"Conclusions
During our visit to the historic Miller graphite property, we were able to see numerous showings with vein type graphite, and can attest to the good infrastructure surrounding the property. For a number of months, the Company has been chasing veins, exposing them, and processing the graphitic material, which yielded exceptional flotation concentrate grades and purity test results. More recently, under the guidance of SGS Lakefield, the Company started to explore the potential for bulk mining instead of selective vein mining, as is done in Sri Lanka.
The challenge embodied in selective mining is the need to define the resource contained in the veins for which the orientation and positioning is difficult to predict. Nonetheless, the vein deposits in Sri Lanka have been successfully mined for over a century. The miners usually define a “rolling resource”, sufficient for them to plan for short-term production targets, while continuously exploring ahead. As they mine out the known resource, they expand the exploration program to find more graphite for future production. For example, AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group (AMS:AMG, NR), through its subsidiary Graphit Kropfmühl, has been producing ~3,000 tonnes/yr at its Bogola mine in Sri Lanka for decades, using this production model.
A similar “rolling resource” production model may well be possible for Canada Carbon; in such case, a formal reporting of resources or economic projections under NI 43-101 may be unnecessary. On the other hand, if the Company decides to employ a bulk mining strategy, a broader resource estimate may be achievable in the near term, but average grades will likely fall to 5-10% Ct. The ongoing pilot plant tests should help the Company determine which mining method is more economic for graphite production in the Miller deposit today. Also, a favourable deal with local quarry operators may help fast track the project to small scale production. Canada Carbon has identified highly prospective hydrothermal graphite showings, and will be performing an extensive drill program to enable it to estimate a resource. Once a resource is defined, we expect the Company to commission a PEA to establish the preliminary economics of the Miller project, while continuing to explore the potential for small scale production. "
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