Sarytogan says its testing has shown that 98.9 per cent of battery capacity is still available after 100 cycles. It now expects more than 1600 cycles before the typical useful threshold of 80 per cent capacity is reached.

The company also recorded an irreversible capacity loss (ICL) of just 11 per cent in its first stage of testing, only slightly above the industry benchmark of 10 per cent for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. Management now plans to add a thicker coating of soft carbon in future testing to reduce both the surface area and the ICL levels.

Sarytogan Graphite managing director Sean Gregory said: “The successful demonstration of coating adds a premium priced element to our battery product offering and opens the door to future direct relationships with battery manufacturers and OEMs. Coating has therefore been added to the flowsheet for the prefeasibility study, which is progressing well and is on track for completion no later than September this year.”

Earlier this year, Sarytogan confirmed that product purified to 99.999 per cent from its Kazakhstan project had been cleared for use in nuclear reactors after meeting strict equivalent boron content (EBC) criteria. The purified graphite, referred to as “five nines”, has been assayed at 1.1 parts per million EBC, which is well below the maximum 2ppm specification for the highest-purity nuclear graphite.

The company currently holds a high-grade mineral resource at its Kazakhstan project of 229 million tonnes at an impressive 28.9 per cent total graphitic carbon (TGC).

Following the latest successful testing of its CSPG in lithium-ion battery anodes, Sarytogan has added it to the flowsheet of its looming PFS as it continues to identify potential new markets for its high-grade graphite.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: [email protected]