Sarytogan confirms broad copper system at Ilksan with 452.5m intercept

Third Ilksan hole confirms mineralised envelope

Sarytogan Graphite Limited (ASX:SGA) has extended the copper story at Ilksan with a 452.5-metre intercept grading 0.063% copper from surface to the end of hole. The result from DDH-IL26003 confirms that copper mineralisation runs through the full drilled length, adding geological continuity to the porphyry interpretation at the Baynazar project in central Kazakhstan.

The headline is encouraging, but the grade carries an important qualification. DDH-IL26003 was drilled 150 metres north of DDH-IL26001A and returned a lower average copper grade than the 0.14% recorded over 318 metres in that hole and the 0.14% over 229 metres in DDH-IL26002. Sarytogan says logging showed roughly half the sulphide content of the two earlier holes, with a lower proportion of copper-bearing sulphides.

Mineralisation continues through 452.5 metres

The hole was completed at a depth of 452.5 metres and encountered 16.1 metres of overburden before entering diorite. Copper occurs mainly as chalcopyrite with pyrite, disseminated through the rock, along fractures and in quartz-bearing veinlets. Malachite was logged near surface, while bornite appeared locally between 82.9 and 109.1 metres and molybdenite was recorded in selected intervals.

Higher-grade pockets were present, although they were modest in isolation: the best individual result was 2 metres at 0.24% copper from 330.3 metres, followed by 2 metres at 0.21% from 425.7 metres. Quartz-molybdenite veining was logged between 427.1 and 446 metres, and the company reported that 93% of assays were above 500 parts per million copper.

Southward drilling becomes the main test

Sarytogan’s current interpretation points south. The company says copper mineralisation is stronger in DDH-IL26001A and DDH-IL26002 than in the northern DDH-IL26003, making the area south of the current drilling the next priority for follow-up work. A separate bedrock anomaly about 300 metres west of the drilling, carrying 0.1% to 0.2% copper and up to 0.2 parts per million gold, is also being considered for deeper diamond drilling.

That exploration logic builds on a 600-metre-diameter bedrock anomaly identified by 130 shallow KGK holes in 2025, where copper reached 4,685 parts per million at six metres depth. The latest diamond drilling is therefore testing a geochemical target that had already produced a coherent anomaly, rather than an isolated surface indication.

Baynazar pipeline expands beyond Ilksan

The company intends to apply the same staged approach at the Aminbay, Autas and Bala-Tolaguy prospects, using shallow KGK drilling to convert soil anomalies into bedrock targets before deeper testing. Sarytogan is also progressing its graphite business, with the upstream definitive feasibility study nearing completion and downstream battery testwork continuing.

For shareholders, the immediate tension is clear: Ilksan has demonstrated scale along drill holes, but not yet an established resource or economic case. The reported intercepts are down-hole lengths, true widths remain unknown, and the next southward and westward holes will need to show whether the stronger grades can be connected across a sufficiently large and consistent system.