Titan Mining Corp. has stated that surface exploration activities at the company’s Kilbourne graphite project are progressing. Field personnel have begun mapping and sampling, and trenching and channel sampling equipment have been mobilized. The goal of the surface work will be to locate areas of better-grade graphite that can be bulk sampled. This data will also be utilized to find drill holes for the company’s next drilling campaign.
Relative location of the Kilbourne Target horizon to ESM permits and infrastructure. Three areas have been identified for drilling; each green oval represents a target ~ 3,280 ft (1,000 m) in length. Trenching and channel sampling is to focus on known surface mineralization within permitted and accessible ground (red oval), and mapping and sampling will focus on the known extensions of the Kilbourne Host lithology to the east and south. Image Credit: Titan Mining Corp.
Highlights:
- Trenching of at least 3,500 feet is required to assess surface mineralization and identify high-priority targets for follow-up drilling. The Empire State Mine surface property contains all of the current target locations
- For additional metallurgical and graphitic carbon (Cg) concentrate tests, channel sampling inside the active mine permit will be used to create a bulk tonnage target
- The entire estimated 25,000 feet of known strike length will be the focus of the Kilbourne host unit’s sampling and prospecting efforts
- With a target depth of 12,000 feet, the pad and drill roads are prepared for the first drilling phase
About 25,000 feet of mapped surface trace, all within Titan Mining’s mining rights, make up the Kilbourne target. The goal of this first exploratory phase is to locate surface regions with enhanced graphite mineralization. Drilling will start as early as December 2023 to test these mineralized zones down dip.
The program’s current footage goal is 12,000 feet. Equipment has been brought to the location to facilitate the development of the pad and road and the trenching and channel sampling of the mineralized lithology. Prospecting and mapping activities could uncover more potential locations for channel sampling and trenching.
The company intends to find material within the existing permitted mine footprint suitable for bulk tonnage sampling once the trenching program results become available. Further metallurgical and concentrate end-use investigations will make use of this material.
Diamond drill hole core material is being tested at SGS labs in Lakefield, Ontario. This testing will yield a Cg concentration, which will be further analyzed to determine the appropriate end-use(s). The first findings are expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The location of this target, the grades we have seen to date, and the historic intercepts documenting mineralization make this a very compelling critical minerals project. If we can find a mineable body of graphite within our existing claims, we believe we will be a step or two ahead of other US graphite projects.
Donald Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer, Titan Mining Corp.
About Kilbourne
The Kilbourne Target is an exploration stage graphite prospect located within Titan Mining's Empire State Mine’s current mining tenure. Mineralized intercepts have an average grade of 2.5% Cg, with high-grade samples reaching 4.5% Cg. The target’s proximity to and within ESM’s active mining permit and infrastructure could present an intriguing prospect for a domestic source of graphite.