Titan Mining Corporation has announced positive Phase III metallurgy results from its Kilbourne graphite project and outlined plans for a natural flake graphite processing facility in New York State. The initiative aims to establish Empire State Mines (ESM) as the first end-to-end producer of natural flake graphite in the United States since the 1950s, addressing critical supply chain vulnerabilities.
Phase III Metallurgy Results
Process optimization at SGS Lakefield indicated favorable material characteristics, including low impurities and high recoveries. The final concentrate achieved 98.8% C(t), demonstrating a saleable product. Testing included 118 mineralized intervals from drill cores, divided into variability composites to ensure robustness of the optimized flowsheet.
"We are pleased with the Phase III test results demonstrating potential closed-circuit recoveries of 90%+ and high-grade concentrate product from Kilbourne," said Don Taylor, CEO of Titan Mining. "Kilbourne has significant resource expansion potential to meet the demands of US natural flake graphite over a long-term period."
Facility Development
Titan is finalizing engineering for a processing facility co-located with its existing zinc operations at ESM. The facility is projected to produce 1,000-1,200 tons per annum of graphite concentrate initially, with a modular expansion planned to reach a baseline production of 40,000 tons per annum. This expansion will leverage existing ESM infrastructure and workforce, reducing both capital and operating costs.
Rita Adiani, President of Titan, commented, "The Facility is the first step towards ESM becoming the first end to end producer of natural flake graphite in the United States and having the ability to secure supply chain resilience for our core industries such as semiconductors, military spec graphite and batteries."
Market Applications and Economic Projections
The Kilbourne graphite is targeted for various high-value applications, including semiconductors, batteries (CSPG anodes), military specification graphite, battery storage, lubricants, polymers, and coatings. The global market for natural flake graphite in these segments was assessed at 1.7 million tons per annum as of 2024.
Titan Mining projects a 40-45% operating margin for its full production facility of 40,000 tons per annum, based on an average sales price of US$2350/t. The equipment and associated costs for the facility are estimated at US$6.0-7.5 million, with funding initiatives underway.
Quality Assurance
All work and chemical analysis were conducted at SGS Lakefield in Canada, an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory, ensuring high-quality and accurate results. Mr. Oliver Peters, a Principal Metallurgist and President of Metpro Management Inc., has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information, affirming the reliability of the data.
