Kookaburra Graphite Project in South Australia is the flagship project of mining exploration company Lincoln Minerals.
The project primarily involves the development of Kookaburra Gully Graphite Deposit.
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In October 2024, Lincoln Minerals announced the results of a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for its Kookaburra Project.
The PFS, which builds on a previous study completed in 2017, envisaged a low-cost, around 16-year Life of Mine (LOM) graphite project. This will involve a staged development employing open-pit mining and a simple floatation process to produce flake graphite concentrate for export.
Production is expected to average 10ktpa of concentrate sales during first stage of two years, before expanding it to 60ktpa of concentrate sales from Year 3.
Stage 1 Financial Investment Decision (FID) is expected to be taken at the end of 2026, with production commencing in 2027.
Meanwhile, Lincoln Minerals will seek to advance with the feasibility study, approvals, government incentives as well as securing offtake and sales agreements and potential partnerships.
Kookaburra Graphite Project Location
Kookaburra Graphite Project (KGP) is located on the Eyre Peninsula within the state of South Australia, around 35km north of Port Lincoln and 20km west southwest of Tumby Bay.
It comprises three areas-Kookaburra Gully (Mining Lease 6460), Koppio and Kookaburra Gully SW Extension (KGE); and mining and processing graphite deposits situated in and around the Kookaburra Gully Mining Lease.
Geology and Mineralisation
The three deposits at the property are situated within the graphitic schists of the Paleoproterozoic Hutchison Group. This formed from marine sediments.
Graphite mineralisation is stratigraphically controlled. According to the PFS, marine algal and bacterial remains underwent high-grade metamorphism to transform into graphite.
The deposits run north-east to south-west. KG and Koppio deposits dip eastward, while KGE is found to be relatively flat lying.
Kookaburra Project Mineral Resource Estimate
The Kookaburra Graphite Project is estimated to contain Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources of 12.8Mt at 7.6% Total Graphitic Carbon (TGC). Total contained graphite is 973 kilo tonnes (kt).
The estimate is based on extensive drilling at the three deposits. Ordinary Kriging was used for KG and KGE deposits, while resource at Koppio was estimated using Inverse Distance Weighting.
Mining and Processing
Mining at Kookaburra Project will be carried out via conventional open-pit methods by a mining contractor.
The completely weathered, which extends up to 20m below ground level, will be excavated without blasting. The contractor is expected to use drill and blast methods to mine further underneath up to 70m.
The first stage of mining will target high grade inventory via two small starter pits in the north and south of Kookaburra Gully, while Stage 2 will involve mining an interim staged pit pushback and a final pit pushback at Kookaburra Gully as well as mining at Koppio and Kookaburra Gully Southwest.
The final stage will recover the remaining deposit from the Kookaburra Gully Southwest deposit.
High-grade material will be processed initially, followed by stockpiled lower grades. Overall, mine life will be about 16 years.
Processing of the ore will involve crushing, grinding, flotation, thickening, filtering and kiln drying, screening and packaging of the final product.
Stage 1 of the project will process 75,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of process feed to produce 10,000tpa of high-quality graphite concentrate initially.
Production will be ramped up in Stage 2 (Year 3 onwards) to 60,000tpa of high-quality graphite concentrate, by processing 500,000tpa of process feed.
Graphite concentrate will be packed in 25kg packets or bulka bags and transported via truck to Port Adelaide for export.
Key Infrastructure
During Stage 1, the graphite project is expected to require around 350MWh of power per month for operations. The requirement will increase to 1,300MWh per month during Stage 2 production.
A dedicated 6km, 33kV powerline will connect the site with the SA Power Network.
Kookaburra Project will procure water from a network of small groundwater bores during first stage. In the subsequent stage, a 13km pipeline will be laid with SA Water network and groundwater bores supplying water.
The project will also feature two Waste Rock Storage Facilities (WRSF) to reduce operating cost and to maintain the aesthetics. There will also be two Tailings Storage Facilities at KG and at the Kookaburra Gully Southwest pit.
Contractors Involved
The Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for Kookaburra Graphite Project was completed by independent consultants.
Mineral Resource Estimates for Kookaburra Gully and Kookaburra Gully SW Extension were completed by GeoSupport FX, while Koppio was modelled by OreWin.
Optima Consulting managed mining studies for the project, while metallurgical work for the project was managed by CB Minerals Project Consulting.
Gaia Environment was responsible for compiling and reviewing previous environmental studies.
Andrew Blain Consulting assisted with the development of capital and operating cost models for the graphite project.
