【Ferro-alloys.com】: The Leliyn graphite project in the Northern Territory has been heralded as having the potential to be a “globally competitive” producer.

A scoping study shows the project, run by Kinglands Minerals, found the site to be financially and technically robust with globally competitive costs, with a near-nine-year project life and a plant throughput capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa).

Leliyn is estimated to produce a total of approximately 662,000 tonnes recovered graphite concentrate during a 6.9-year processing period, for average annual production of around 95,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate.

The estimated life-of-mine revenue for the project sits at $1.05 billion with an estimated operating pre-tax cash margin of $563 million.

The study also found the potential to grow inventory, mine life and production rate with the graphite host schist extending well beyond the current resource boundary.

The open-pit mining strip ratio at Leliyn sits at a ratio of 0.8:1 (waste:ore) for the life of mine and the study revealed extensive scope for optimisations that could deliver a greater production capacity alongside a reduction in operating costs.

A mineral resource estimate for the project, released in April 2025, indicated a total resource of 192.5 million tonnes at 7.3 per cent graphite for 14 million tonnes of contained graphite.

“These are strong results which highlight the excellent outlook for Leliyn. Importantly, the C1 or cash operating cost is forecast to be just $US423 per tonne of concentrate produced, which is very competitive with current operations worldwide,” Kingsland managing director Richard Maddocks said.

“This result is even more promising given that we only had a limited amount of mineralisation to utilise for the study. With more drilling and increased indicated resources, we are confident that we can build on this result and establish a long-life, profitable graphite concentrate operation.”

• [Editor:Alakay]