Sarytogan Graphite lights up Kazakh copper play in shallow drilling

Malachite-rich, highly altered drill chips from Sarytogan Graphite’s recent drilling in Kazakhstan have highlighted a 600-metre-wide copper geochemical anomaly.

Sarytogan Graphite (ASX: SGA) has caught a strong whiff of copper at its Baynazar project in Kazakhstan using some clever geology and a shallow drilling program that appears to have scratched far more than just the surface.

The company’s latest results from shallow drilling at the Ilkin prospect have outlined a strong copper bedrock geochemical anomaly extending roughly 600 metres in diameter, with grades reaching up to 0.5 per cent copper. The results are even more pleasing since the drill bit only probed to an average depth of 12 metres, aimed at punching through shallow cover and sampling fresh bedrock.

Notably, the core of the copper anomaly is enriched in silver grading up to 3.3 grams per tonne (g/t), 74 parts per million (ppm) molybdenum and up to 240ppm antimony, while its margins are lighting up with gold, cobalt, nickel, lead and zinc.

This classic metal zoning is exactly what explorers like to see when chasing copper gold porphyry systems, where copper dominates the centre and other metals, including gold, form broad halos around it.

Adding further weight to the porphyry theory is the alteration story emerging from the drilling. Mapping has identified potassic and sericite alteration near the centre of the system, grading outwards into propylitic alteration, with argillic alteration affecting the upper weathered zones.

In simple terms, the rocks are showing the same alteration patterns seen at many of the world’s significant porphyry copper deposits.

Drill chip logging has also visually confirmed copper mineralisation at site, with malachite coatings and sulphide veinlets picked up in several holes near intrusive contacts.

Backing up the latest copper results from the shallow drilling at Ilkin, Sarytogan also has some good-looking results from trenches dug last year. These channel samples averaged 0.13 per cent copper across a 270-metre-long mineralised zone, with stronger sections of 92 metres at 0.20 per cent and a standout 30-metre strip grading 0.31 per cent copper. Green malachite was also clearly visible in the samples, confirming the presence of copper.

The shallow KGK drilling at the Ilkin prospect has exceeded expectations by delineating a 600m wide strong bedrock anomaly of up to 0.5% copper. The lithology, alteration and geochemistry are all consistent with a possible copper porphyry system. The next step is deeper 200m to 500m diamond drill holes, subject to specific funding being allocated to the copper project.

Sarytogan Managing Director Sean Gregory

The Baynazar project sits in Kazakhstan’s Central Asian Orogenic Belt, a globally significant mineral province that hosts multiple large copper systems and some of the world’s lowest-cost copper mines. The project area is dotted with volcanic calderas and intrusions, providing fertile plumbing for porphyry-style mineralisation. Notably, an operating copper porphyry mine lies on the opposite margin of the same regional caldera system.

All this puts Sarytogan Graphite in an interesting position. While the company’s primary focus remains its world-class graphite project, which is advancing through feasibility with European strategic backing, Baynazar is shaping up as a genuine blue-sky opportunity. Management says the next logical step is deeper diamond drilling of 200 to 500 metres to test whether the shallow anomaly connects to a larger copper body at depth.

For now, at least, the shallow drilling appears to have done its job. It has reduced geological risk, sharpened targets and delivered a compelling case that something significant could be lurking below.

If deeper drilling delivers what the shallow work has hinted at, Baynazar could quickly evolve from a side story into a serious second act for Sarytogan. With copper firmly back in favour and large porphyry systems prized for their scale and longevity, the company may soon find that its graphite flagship is no longer sailing alone.

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