Announcement • Jun 11
Leading Edge Materials Corp Provides Update on Testwork Completed on Ore Sourced from Woxna Graphite Mine
Leading Edge Materials Corp. provided an update on testwork completed on ore sourced from the Company’s 100% owned Woxna Graphite Mine. The programme was designed to evaluate new processing techniques aimed at producing large-flake, high-purity flake graphite concentrate suitable for premium industrial and battery applications. Flotation testwork produced a high-grade concentrate with 94% carbon purity retaining more than half of all particles as large flakes. A simple, industrially practical two-stage alkaline process (without an energy-intensive pre-heating step) achieved 99.96% LOI (loss on ignition). Testwork was conducted on historical stockpiled material that showed signs of oxidation, which is known to reduce flotation performance. Milling tests were conducted using VeRo technology, which achieves high levels of graphite liberation in a single pass, using significantly less energy than conventional methods and operating dry. Six tests were performed across a range of settings to identify conditions that retain large flake size while achieving sufficient liberation. The milled products were sent to ProGraphite for analysis and characterization. Clear differences were observed between VeRo settings, with samples varying significantly in particle size distribution — including flake size — and degree of liberation. Further optimisation work is planned to establish the ideal settings for commercial-scale production. In addition to particle size analysis, samples were examined using optical microscopy, SEM and MLA. The MLA results were particularly informative regarding liberation, though mineral composition varied slightly between samples; the principal components were consistent across all. ProGraphite then conducted flotation testing, beginning with a flash flotation approach that produced a concentrate with an LOI of 94%. Performance was below expectations based on historical data, with a notable proportion of graphite reporting to the scavenging stage after rougher flotation. This is attributed to two factors: the ore not being freshly mined, and the VeRo settings having been configured to prioritize flake size retention over maximum liberation. Nonetheless, the flotation test demonstrated that a relatively coarse, large-flake concentrate can be produced from the ore, achieving a flake content of over 50% at an LOI of 94%. Higher purity is attainable, though likely at the cost of some reduction in particle size. ProGraphite conducted a series of purification trials on the flotation concentrate to evaluate the effectiveness of different purification methods and process conditions. Methods tested included alkaline purification — using either HCl or H2SO4 as the acid component — and hydrofluoric acid (HF) purification, with additional investigation into the influence of pre-heating and process temperature. The initial alkaline purification campaign established that HCl alone, Test 1A, yields only moderate purity in a single stage, achieving LOI values of 97.65% and necessitating a second purification step to exceed 99%. Pre-heating the concentrate to 300–400 °C prior to purification significantly reduced sulphur levels, though it produced an anticipated increase in iron content. The best overall results were achieved through a two-stage process combining a sodium hydroxide bake with subsequent HCl leaching - the highest LOI value of the entire test series at 99.99%, Test 2B. Without the energy-intensive preheating step, an LOI of 99.96% with similar impurity profiles, was achieved making Test 1B interesting for an industrial process. While the findings are preliminary and further optimization work is planned, they support the technical viability of a Woxna restart and provide a solid foundation for ongoing engineering and process development studies. The Company intends to assess whether an updated PEA is warranted as this work progresses. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, global demand for natural flake graphite is forecast to more than double within a decade — rising from approximately 1,200,000 tonnes in 2025 to nearly 3,000,000 tonnes by 2035 — driven by the rapid expansion of electric vehicle production and battery energy storage. Benchmark projects a persistent supply shortfall in the -100 mesh, 94–95% carbon segment, the preferred feedstock for battery applications, with the deficit beginning now and growing to almost 1,000,000 tonnes by 2040. Woxna, as one of Europe's few fully permitted and production-ready natural flake graphite operations, is strategically positioned to meet growing regional demand for responsibly sourced, low-carbon graphite.
