The potential increased market demand would also feed well into the current graphite price which does look to be perking up. While synthetic graphite trades around US$650-$700 (AU$985-$1060) per tonne in Kazakhstan, Sarytogan’s Micro80C as a premium recarburizer for ductile cast iron could fetches up to US$1,000 (AU$1500) per tonne.

With a 20-tonne trial sample already warehoused in Karaganda, the next step for Sarytogan is to start milling tests. Once completed, a one tonne sample of the milled ore will be flown to Australia to produce a flotation concentrate, before heading to the United States for purification.

Eventually, hundreds of kilos of product samples will then be readied for machine testing and customer trials and validation as a recarburizer.

In addition to the current work, the company has also successfully produced an ultra-refined bulk flotation concentrate, reaching the ultimate goal of five nines purity or 99.9992 per cent carbon which is essential for lithium-ion batteries as an anode coating.

With a 229 million tonne graphite resource grading at a whopping 28.9 per cent total graphitic carbon at its project site in Kazakhstan, the company benefits from sitting midway between two of the biggest markets in the world, being China and Europe.

And as the demand for vehicle electrification and batteries continues to gather pace, Sarytogan appears to have found another use for its product with massive global demand, as a recarburizer.

It is little wonder then that the company is starting to attract global attention first by signing up a $5 million investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

But, perhaps even more significantly, Sarytogan was also cited as a prime example of how countries are working together on critical mineral supply chains in New York during the opening discussions of United Nations’ Minerals Security Partnership Finance Network.

The stars certainly appear to be starting to align for the graphite hopeful.

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