iTech Minerals Advances Drilling at Reynolds Range and Boosts Graphite Grade at Sugarloaf
iTech Minerals is gearing up for a major drilling campaign at its Northern Territory gold-antimony project, while its South Australian graphite asset shows promising metallurgical progress towards battery-grade products.
- Approvals secured and drilling prep underway at Reynolds Range Sabre and Falchion prospects
- Follow-up drilling to total approximately 7,000m with tight 25m hole spacing
- Advanced flotation tests achieve up to 92% total graphitic carbon at Sugarloaf
- Exploration expenditure of $402,000 with $4.61 million cash on hand
- Metallurgical challenges remain due to fine graphite particle size
Drilling Momentum Builds at Reynolds Range
iTech Minerals Ltd (ASX:ITM) has cleared the regulatory hurdles to kick off its next phase of drilling at the Reynolds Range Gold-Antimony Project in the Northern Territory. Earthworks and drill pad preparations are underway, setting the stage for a substantial reverse circulation (RC) program expected to start in mid to late May. The campaign will deliver roughly 56 holes across the Sabre and Falchion prospects, totalling about 7,000 metres.
This follow-up drilling aims to delineate the three-dimensional structure of the gold-antimony shoots with tight 25-metre spacing, building on last year’s encouraging 12-hole program. Significant earlier results included standout intercepts such as 31 metres at 2.5 g/t gold and 0.65% antimony at Sabre, and 14 metres at 6.31 g/t gold at Falchion. These findings, detailed in January, have been instrumental in refining geological models and correcting previous drill hole misplacements, boosting confidence in the deposit’s continuity and scale.
The renewed drilling push aligns with the company’s strategy to capitalise on the Stafford Gold Trend’s more than 42-kilometre strike length, part of the broader Trans-Tanami structural corridor. iTech retains full rights to gold and antimony despite a joint venture covering lithium rights with SQM International. The upcoming program’s timing and scale underscore the company’s commitment to advancing its Northern Territory assets, following the resolution of earlier data inconsistencies that had clouded resource potential assessments. This drilling initiative follows the company’s recent consistent high-grade gold and antimony results that helped clarify the deposit’s geometry.
Sugarloaf Graphite Project Shows Metallurgical Promise
On the other side of the continent, iTech is making headway at its Sugarloaf Graphite Project in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. Metallurgical test work conducted under the Cooperative Research Centres Project (CRC-P) has yielded graphite concentrates grading as high as 92% total graphitic carbon (TGC) using advanced flotation technologies, notably the Reflux Flotation Cell (RFC) method. This represents the highest grade achieved to date for Sugarloaf feedstock.
Despite these promising concentrate grades, recovery rates remain modest, with the best RFC tests recovering about 52% of the graphite. The fine microcrystalline nature of the graphite, with particle sizes predominantly under 20 microns and significant liberation below 3 microns, presents a persistent beneficiation challenge. Gangue minerals are mainly quartz and clays, which offers some potential for gangue rejection through flotation and downstream purification.
iTech’s managing director Michael Schwarz emphasised the significance of these results for the company’s broader ambition to develop battery anode materials domestically. The research partnership with METS Engineering and Adelaide University is focused on optimising flotation conditions, improving grinding and liberation, and exploring purification methods capable of producing battery-grade graphite exceeding 99.95% carbon purity.
Financial Position and Next Steps
During the March quarter, iTech spent $402,000 primarily on exploration activities at Reynolds Range and graphite metallurgical studies at Sugarloaf. Payments to related parties, including director fees, totalled $98,000. The company ended the quarter with $4.61 million in cash, providing a runway of approximately 9.4 quarters based on current expenditure levels.
Looking ahead, iTech plans to commence the Sabre drilling program imminently, followed by Falchion drilling once Sabre is complete. Concurrently, the company will pursue further metallurgical optimisation to overcome the fine-grained graphite processing hurdles. The success of these initiatives will be critical in validating the economic potential of both the gold-antimony and graphite projects, which sit at the heart of Australia’s critical minerals and battery materials push.
Bottom Line?
iTech’s imminent drilling and ongoing graphite processing research will be pivotal in shaping its resource development trajectory over the coming quarters.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the upcoming drilling at Sabre and Falchion confirm extensions to high-grade gold-antimony mineralisation?
- Can metallurgical optimisation at Sugarloaf overcome fine particle challenges to produce commercially viable battery-grade graphite?
- How will iTech balance capital deployment between exploration and downstream processing development in the near term?
