PROJECT UPDATE: Focus Graphite Sees 92-percent Rise in Lac Knife’s Measured, Indicated Resources

Canada’s Focus Graphite (TSXV:FMS,OTCQX:FCSMF) ended 2013 on a strong note, signing an offtake agreement for future production from its Quebec-based Lac Knife graphite project as the year drew to a close.
Happily, 2014 is off to a similarly strong start for the company. This morning, Focus released an updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for Lac Knife, commenting that its measured and indicated mineral resource now sits at 9.6 million tonnes grading 14.77-percent Cg at a cut off of 3-percent Cg. That’s an impressive 92-percent increase from the previous estimate of 4.9 million tonnes grading 15.76-percent Cg at a cut off of 5-percent Cg.
The updated estimate, which is based on a total of 197 diamond drill holes of historic and recent drilling, also brings the property’s in-situ graphite content up by 81 percent, from 778,000 tonnes up to 1.4 million tonnes, and delineates a further 3.1 million tonnes of inferred resource.
Don Baxter, Focus’ president and chief operating officer, commented, “[w]e are very pleased to have further de-risked the Lac Knife project by increasing the quality and tonnage of the resource. This updated resource will be incorporated into a mineral reserve estimate in the feasibility study currently underway with Met-Chem.”
He also noted that today’s news closely follows China’s announcement that it has ordered as many as 55 graphite miners and processors in the Chinese town of Pingdu to stop producing flake graphite on environmental grounds. “This further illustrates the need for reliable, low cost, high quality graphite flake production outside of China,” he said, emphasizing that Focus “is showing that it has strong potential to meet these growing needs.”
Shares of Focus are currently selling for $0.53 each, up 6 percent.
 
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Focus Graphite is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.