Pre Feasibility Study (PFS) engineers selected
Our 2022 Small Cap Pick of the Year Sarytogan Graphite (ASX: SGA) has just selected its Pre Feasibility Study (PFS) engineer.
Just yesterday SGA put out an upgrade to its already giant JORC resource - this was significant because the JORC resource forms the basis for any feasibility studies a company completes.
Today, SGA selected its PFS consulting team:
- GR Engineering - leading the process engineering works. GR also has experience across all aspects of the project life cycle from the initial evaluation and study phase through to design, construction, commissioning, and operational support.
- Snowden Optiro - leading the mining engineering works as part of the feasibility study. This includes geotechnical studies and hydrogeology works.
- Lone Star Tech Minerals - the marketing advisory team which will provide input on the forward projections in the graphite industry.
SGA is now in a position where it has moved from the resource "definition" stage of a mining company's lifecycle firmly into the feasibility study stage.
The image shows where this ranks versus some of its peers:
(Market caps as of 27/03/2023)
What's next for the Pre Feasibility Study (PFS)?
As part of the PFS process, SGA needed to complete two sets of works:
- ✅ The upgraded JORC resource that includes most of its JORC resource in the indicated category - SGA delivered this yesterday (see our note on the news here).
- 🔄 Metallurgical testwork and battery performance testing - SGA is currently working on this and expects this work to be completed before the end of the year. The significance of this is that SGA can plug in high value Uncoated Spherical Graphite products as revenue streams; these products sell for multiples of raw graphite concentrates and could improve project economics significantly.
SGA is taking a two staged approach to its PFS while it completes metallurgical testwork and battery performance testing.
First, the company will work on technical studies in metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and hydrogeology, and internal conceptual study as a toll-gate for the Board's due diligence.
After this, the company will plug in the metwork/battery testing results to complete the rest of the PFS.
At this stage, SGA hasn't provided a timeline for the PFS, but we do note the following slide from its recent investor presentation showing the PFS running into 2024:
