Quantum Graphite has made a play for SA graphite developer and explorer Lincoln Minerals. Under the off-market offer, Quantum is offering one of its shares for every 40 Lincoln shares based on the two-day weighted average price of Quantum shares of 40.67 cents. The offer represents a 30% premium to Lincoln’s most recent share price of 1.02 cents.
The Lincoln property in South Australia totals approximately 1,177 square kilometers on the Eyre Peninsula, which is shaping up to be Australia’s world-class flake graphite province.
Quantum has its sights firmly set on potential ownership of the land hosting the Kookaburra Gully high-grade graphite deposit. In 2013, Lincoln published an initial JORC Mineral Resource estimate of 2.2 Mt grading a spectacular 15.5% total graphitic carbon, or “TGC”.
As an additional sweetener, the holding includes the historic Koppio graphite mine which contains a JORC-inferred mineral resource of 1.85 Mt at 9.76 percent TGC.
Quantum’s operation in South Australia, about 40 kilometers south along the Eyre Peninsula, includes the Uley 2 and Uley 3 resources where about 7.2 million tonnes have been defined representing 10.5 % of TGC.
According to Quantum, the addition of Lincoln’s flake graphite assets to its arsenal offers greater economies of scale from its joint development.
Not surprisingly, the Kookaburra Gully graphite deposit exhibits many key features similar to the broader geology of Quantum’s Uley deposits.
Importantly, the metallurgical properties of the Kookaburra Gully graphite deposit match those of the Uley deposits, raising clear synergies for the preferred processing path for each of the projects.
Quantum is looking to develop thermal energy storage battery cells using graphite from its Uley deposit on the Eyre Peninsula through a joint venture with Sunlands.
The duo say the high-purity natural flake graphite found at Uley is important to Sunlands’ downstream processing and the technologies needed to develop thermal energy storage, or “TES” cells. TES cells are devices that temporarily store energy for later use for power generation. They can be used to balance fluctuating energy demand caused by the changing nature of renewable energy generation.
In addition, natural flake graphite is an important component of lithium-ion batteries. Quantum previously reported over the next 18 months, demand for natural flake graphite could increase from 30 to more than 50 percent of the anode market share and by 2025 the material will be the dominant force in the sector, above the current fashion. synthetic versions.
The Eyre Peninsula is part of the highly endowed mineral province of the Gawler Craton which is home to the world-class Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and Carapateena copper mines along with a group of iron ore mines in the infamous ‘Iron Triangle ” of Middleback Ranges.
The Lincoln’s Gum Flat project, just 2km from Quantum’s Uley project, hosts a large number of iron-rich magnetite and hematite-goethite deposits with a combined JORC mineral resource of 109 Mt.
Despite its proximity to the Uley deposits, limited exploration has been done at Gum Flat for graphite. Re-sampling by Lincoln in earlier drilling targeting iron ore mineralization returned an encouraging set of results, including 13 ma and 12 per cent TGC from just 57 m down.
While Quantum will have its hands full evaluating Lincoln’s graphite assets, the mandate also hosts a compelling set of intriguing gold, zinc-lead-silver, copper, manganese, uranium and vanadium prospects, all worthy of a second look
Quantum already has its foot on a pile of graphite at its Uley deposits in South Australia’s world-class flake graphite province. If Lincoln shareholders accept Quantum’s offer, it could be a game changer for the budding graphite developer.
Is your ASX listed company doing anything interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au