Ceylon Graphite to invest US$ 6.2mn to develop new sites and upgrade product

• Ceylon Graphite in June completed first graphite sale from its mines in Sri Lanka
• GOSL has granted Ceylon Graphite exploration rights in a land package of over 120 square kilometres

By Nishel Fernando 
Canada-based Ceylon Graphite Corp., which is involved in the exploration and production of graphite in historic resource jurisdictions in Sri Lanka plans to invest US$ 6.2 million to develop new sites and start upgrading its natural graphite.

“Most importantly Ceylon Graphite has a firm commitment from a consortium of international investors to invest C$ 8.1 million (US$ 6.2 million) in the company to develop new sites and fund the company’s plans to start upgrading its natural graphite,” Ceylon Graphite announced on Monday.

Ceylon Graphite completed its first sale of graphite in June from its graphite mines in Sri Lanka, since the commencement of commercial production in December 2019.

The sale, which was for one tonne of vein graphite with carbon content of 95-97 percent, was sold to Singapore-based 2D Materials (Pte) Ltd by Sarcon Development (Pvt.) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ceylon
Graphite Corp.

Further, it also entered the South Korean market in the same month with its first sale of graphite from Sarcon Development (Pvt) Ltd to South Korea.

The sale of 300 kgs of vein graphite with carbon content of 95-97 percent was to Elves Graphite Co, Ltd based in Seoul, South Korea. 

The graphite was purchased to evaluate its suitability for battery manufacturers and other industries which use high-grade graphite in their manufacturing processes in South Korea. 

Ceylon Graphite’s K1 mine entered commercial production in December 2019, with exploration continuing at its other selected sites. Its subsidiary Sarcon Development has control of 121 grids in Sri Lanka.

As the company is in the process of rapidly expanding its capabilities, it also announced that its M1 site would apply  for Industrial Mining License Category A shortly.

M1 is an active exploration site in Malsiripura (near Kurunegala) and is operated under Ceylon Graphite’s subsidiary JADS Enterprises. 

JADS has received an Industrial Mining License Category B from the Geological Survey & Mines Bureau (GSMB) to carry out some single borehole blasting and the use of certain machinery and equipment in the 
mining process. 

“Product from both sites has been certified as battery grade marketable by US and German laboratories,” the company said.

Further, Ceylon Graphite revealed that it has resumed shaft work in one of its new sites, H1 site located in Hakbewa. The site is over 50 acres and the firm noted that it has substantial surface graphite dump.
In recent years, the demand for natural graphite has hit its strong growth phase to support the manufacturing of energy storage equipment/high quality batteries/lubricants
and refractories.

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. Graphite mined in Sri Lanka is known to be some of the purest in the world. However, it currently accounts for less than one percent of the world graphite production.The global graphite market is projected to surpass US$ 18 billion by 2022, according to market research. 

Ceylon Graphite aims to become a major player in this rapidly growing space. Sasha Jacob is the strategic investor of Ceylon Graphite, which is now listed on Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange. He is an emerging investor and entrepreneur in Canada, with a successful track record in financing in the renewable energy and medical cannabis sectors.