Ceylon Graphite announces new appointments

Canada-based Ceylon Graphite Corp. recently announced the appointment of Janaka Rathnayake and H.M. Ranjith Premasiri to new roles within the company. 

Rathnayake will be General Manager of Operations for Sarcon Development (Pvt) Ltd. and will be responsible for all of the company’s exploration and mining related business in Sri Lanka. 

Dr. Premasiri will be Senior Consultant Geologist and will guide and lead Sarcon’s team of geologists as the company expands it business footprint in Sri Lanka.

Ceylon Graphite Corp CEO Bharat Parashar said, “Both gentlemen are well-known and respected practitioners in the graphite space in Sri Lanka and will play a major role as the company ramps up its business activities. Janaka will focus on production and Ranjith on the next sites that we should develop.”

Rathnayake is an experienced mining engineer and mine manager and is considered to be an expert in graphite mining. He started his career in 1996 at AMG’s Graphit Kropfmühl GmbH working as an engineer in its Bogala Graphite mine. Rathnayake spent over 10 years with the GSMB (Geological Survey and Mines Bureau in the position of Mining Engineer and Chief Mining Engineer).

He has worked in Australia in senior mining positions and was the Mines Manager at Kahatagaha Graphite Lanka Limited, the largest graphite mine in Sri Lanka, prior to joining the Ceylon Graphite team. He currently runs the company’s M1 site. Dr. Premasiri is one of the leading geologists in Sri Lanka and has had a distinguished career to-date. He holds a PhD In Geo Physics from the United Kingdom and is a Chartered Geologist. He is a Professor in the Department of Earth Resources at Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka (Department Head 2016-2019). He has also worked at the Geological Society and Mines Bureau of Sri Lanka.

Well recognised in his field, he is currently the President of the Geological Society of Sri Lanka and was General Secretary of the Institute of Geology, Sri Lanka 2009 – 2016. He has published numerous papers and has done substantial research in the field of geology. The Sri Lankan government has granted Ceylon Graphite exploration rights in a land package of over 120 square kilometres. These exploration grids cover areas of historic graphite production from the early 20th century and represent a majority of the known graphite occurrences in Sri Lanka.