Lincoln says the variety of its flake material is ideal for BAM use and considered suitable for EVs, subject to further testing. The company plans to use the material for further detailed testing and analysis.

It has appointed experienced critical mineral manager Stephen McEwen as its project development manager to drive the BAM strategy and upcoming PFS and is planning to have the project “dig-ready” by the second half of next year.

The company believes the advancement of its KGP comes at an opportune time, with the Federal Government continuing to show funding support for projects with merit and an ability to play a significant role in the critical mineral supply chain.

The latest mineral KGP resource sits at 12.8 million tonnes going 7.6 per cent TGC for 973,000 tonnes of contained graphite. Lincoln says that makes the KGP the second-biggest graphite resource on the Eyre Peninsula, which it describes as “Australia’s premier graphite province”.

The KGP resource comprises the Kookaburra Gully, Koppio and Kookaburra Gully Extended deposits.

The company recently extended the resource at Kookaburra Gully by 114 per cent after targeting growth with its first drilling program in seven years. It now shows 412,000 tonnes of contained graphite at the deposit.

Management says further resource growth is possible as the KGP has a multitude of electromagnetic (EM) anomalies that spread south-west and north-east and span more than 15km. It is planning to drill targets outside the known mineralisation areas later this year.

Lincoln has also been invited to participate in an Australian Government-led critical minerals trade mission to Europe next month. The company says it will highlight the competitive advantages it believes it has at its KGP, including its high-grade component of mineralised ore on an approved mining lease in a tier-one jurisdiction.

It was asked to join the trade mission to the United Kingdom, France and Germany after appearing in Austrade’s 2023 edition of Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus.

The European Union’s annual trade mission will this year focus on graphite and lithium – two critical battery minerals that are expected to play a big role in future EV uptake. It will provide Lincoln with the opportunity to develop a network of offtakers in the EV battery space, in addition to companies involved in the automotive, defence, electronics and aerospace fields.

The opportunity comes amid significant supply chain tensions following China’s recent ban on exports, which has increased demand for new, quality sources of the material from outside that country.

Lincoln’s KGP seems to possess the type of quality graphite that some critical mineral pundits are saying the market will be “screaming for” as EV production ramps up in the coming years.

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