MRL Corporation (ASX: MRF) is on track to start production from its Aluketiya graphite project in Sri Lanka in the September quarter 2015 after drilling returned assays of up to 99.3% total graphitic carbon.
Rehabilitation and construction work on two historic shafts at Aluketiya is set to start in March and will take about two months to complete.
Last week, the company noted that metallurgical test work has shown that Aluketiya graphite exceeds the grades required for use in lithium batteries.
Sri Lanka is famed for being the only commercial producer of crystalline vein graphite and is among the highest quality of naturally occurring material in the world.
Typical high-grade Sri Lankan graphite achieves a greater recovery rate than most disseminated flake graphite deposits due to its reduced physical processing requirement and much higher starting TGC purity.
Six holes were drilled at the project with the majority returning assays above 90%TGC.