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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South Star Battery Metals Corp. ("South Star" or the "Company") (TSXV: STS) (OTCQB: STSBF), is pleased to announce the successful production and shipment of the first container of natural flake graphite concentrates, as well provide an operational update for the Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Bahia, Brazil. The maiden shipment comprised of 20 bulk bags of graphite concentrates is sealed and now awaiting logistics for delivery to the United States. The Santa Cruz Mine is now officially the first new commercial graphite production in the Americas since 1996, and the Company is poised to become a critical supplier of high-quality graphite to global markets.
Santa Cruz is fully licensed and permitted for up to 50,000 tonnes of concentrates per year ("tpy"). This significant milestone underscores South Star's leadership in advancing secure, scalable, and sustainable graphite production in the West. South Star is committed to supporting the traditional industrial markets, while also strengthening critical supply chains for defense, stationary storage and the broader energy transition.
Richard Pearce, CEO of South Star commented, "We are excited and proud to deliver this important milestone for the Phase 1 Santa Cruz operations, bringing 15 years of vision and hard work to life. Our team has completed the construction and delivery of the first product with zero loss-time incidents ("LTIs"). It's a real testament to our team's dedication, discipline, hard work and focus with 887 days and over 389,650 manhours completed through April 30, 2025 with no LTIs. I would like to thank our team, clients and investors for their continued support of South Star and Santa Cruz."
Mr. Pearce continued, "The global landscape is increasingly emphasizing the strategic importance of a secure, resilient critical minerals supply chain and industrial production capacity. Provenance and security of supply increasingly matter. South Star is a first mover in the graphite space in the West with low cost, scalable, long-life assets in Tier 1 jurisdictions and an experienced management team that delivers phased, modular production. We believe this will allow us to be uniquely positioned in the West and increasingly differentiate ourselves in the marketplace as a team who delivers production. Santa Cruz produces a wide variety of coarse to fine natural flake graphite concentrates ranging from 82% to 96% graphitic carbon content. Once Phase 1 production is fully ramped, we will be working quickly to move downstream into value-add products, as well as start design for expanding Santa Cruz production."
Operational Update
Santa Cruz is ramping up Phase 1 production to deliver approximately 3,500 - 4,000 metric tonnes ("t") of graphite concentrates in 2025 and increasing to a target of 10,000 mt in 2026. Currently, the Phase 1 plant is averaging approximately 92% of the mechanical availability with throughput ramping up to the target of 30 tonnes per hour of ore over the near-term. Mine operations have generally confirmed the mine plan of 2.8% to 3.5% graphite carbon ("Cg") and an overall waste to ore strip ratio of 1:1. Ore variability remains low, and the flake size distribution is confirming the previously announced flake size distribution of 65% coarse (+80 mesh) and 35% fines (-80 mesh) material. There are approximately 36,000 tonnes of ore on the ROM pad ready to process. The key priorities of the continued ramp up over the next three months are focused on the following:
- Delivering quality products, finalizing industrial scale qualifications processes and confirming sales;
- Continued incremental ramp up of throughput and production volumes;
- Optimizing the flowsheet, reagents and recoveries; and
- Performing a bottleneck analysis for current production targets and future expansions.
Both the fines and coarse grain circuits have generally achieved 92-96% Cg concentrates, and the drying process is achieving the overall technical specification of < 0.5% moisture. The tailings filter press is on average producing 20-25% moisture filtercake, which is co-disposed in the waste dump, while the plant is recirculating approximately 80% of the process water.
ABOUT SOUTH STAR BATTERY METALS CORP.
South Star is a Canadian battery-metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. South Star's Santa Cruz Graphite Project, located in Southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of industrial- and battery-metals projects that will be put into production. Brazil is the second-largest graphite-producing region in the world with more than 80 years of continuous mining. Santa Cruz has at-surface mineralization in friable materials, and successful large-scale pilot-plant testing (> 30 tonnes) has been completed. The results of the testing show that approximately 65% of graphite concentrate is +80 mesh with good recoveries and 95%-99% graphitic carbon ("Cg"). With excellent infrastructure and logistics, South Star Phase 1 is ramping up commercial production in 2025. Santa Cruz Phase 1 commercial production has a nameplate capacity of 12,000 tpy and is the first new graphite production in the Americas since 1996. Phase 2 production (25,000 tpy) is partially funded and planned for 2027, while Phase 3 (50,000 tpy) is scheduled for 2029.
South Star's second project in the development pipeline is strategically located in Alabama, U.S.A. in the center of a developing electric-vehicle, aerospace, and defense hub in the southeastern United States. The BamaStar Project includes a historic mine active during the First and Second World Wars. A NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment was filed on SEDAR+ in November 2024. Trenching, Phase 1 drilling, sampling, analysis, and preliminary metallurgical testing have been completed. The testing included a traditional crush/grind/flotation concentration circuit that achieved grades of approximately 94-99% Cg with approximately 90% recoveries. The vertically integrated production facilities include a mine and industrial concentrator in Coosa County, AL and a downstream value-add plant in Mobile, AL, which will be upgrading natural flake graphite concentrates from both Santa Cruz and BamaStar mines. South Star is executing on its plan to create a multi-asset, diversified battery-metals company with near-term operations in strategic jurisdictions. South Star trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol STS, and on the OTCQB under the symbol STSBF.
South Star is committed to a corporate culture, project execution plan and safe operations that embrace the highest standards of ESG principles, based on transparency, stakeholder engagement, ongoing education, and stewardship. To learn more, please visit the Company website at http://www.southstarbatterymetals.com.
This news release has been reviewed and approved for South Star by Richard Pearce, P.E., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of South Star Battery Metals Corp.
On behalf of the South Star Board of Directors,
MR. RICHARD L. PEARCE,
President & Chief Executive Officer
For additional information, please contact:
South Star Investor Relations
| Email: | invest@southstarbatterymetals.com | |
| Phone | +1 (604) 706-0212 | |
| Website: | www.southstarbatterymetals.com | |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/southstarbm | |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/southstarbatterymetals | |
| LinkedIn: | https://www.linkedin.com/company/southstarbatterymetals/ | |
| YouTube: | South Star Battery Metals - YouTube | |
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to statements regarding production and scaling of operations at Santa Cruz, as well as advancing the Alabama project, and the Company's plans and expectations.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
