Atlas Critical Minerals reports large graphite resource in Brazil

Atlas Critical Minerals Corporation has announced a significant initial mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its wholly-owned Malacacheta graphite project in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. According to the company, this estimate positions the project as having the largest and highest-grade reported graphite resources in South America, based on contained graphite and graphite-carbon grade.

The estimate, compiled by SGS Canada Inc. according to globally recognized reporting standards, currently covers only one of the project's three contiguous claims. It reports 17.2 million tonnes of indicated resources at a 5.73% graphite-carbon grade, along with 7 million tonnes of inferred resources at a 5.40% graphite-carbon grade. The company compares this to the measured and indicated graphite-carbon grade of 4.6% at the Graphite Creek project in Alaska, described by the U.S. Geological Survey as the largest known flake graphite deposit in the United States, reported at a 2.0% graphite-carbon cut-off grade. The Malacacheta project's indicated resource grade of 5.73% graphite-carbon is approximately 25% higher.

The Malacacheta deposit is reported to be near-surface, lending itself to open-pit mining methods. All 21 diamond drill holes, totaling 2,393.90 meters, have intersected significant graphite mineralization. High-grade results include a 43.10-meter interval grading 6.20% graphite-carbon and a 17.30-meter interval grading 10.62% graphite-carbon. Only about 2.5 kilometers of the approximately 11-kilometer strike length of this mineralization has been explored to date, and the mineralized system remains open along strike and down dip.

Furthermore, the company stated that concentrates previously extracted from samples along the project's mineralized trend have met the high purity standards required for electric vehicle battery applications and even nuclear reactor applications. The company sees significant potential for further exploration and resource expansion in the remaining, yet-to-be-tested areas of the project.