South Star Battery Metals Announces the First Sale of Natural Flake Graphite Concentrate from its Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Brazil

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 6, 2024 / South Star Battery Metals Corp. ("South Star" or the "Company") (TSXV:STS)(OTCQB:STSBF) is pleased to announce the execution of a binding sales agreement (the "Agreement") for the initial purchase of 100 tonnes of the Company's graphite concentrate from its Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Brazil. The material will be shipped in five (5) industry-standard intermodal ISO 20-foot shipping containers, each holding 20 one-tonne super sacks. South Star anticipates that initial orders will be fulfilled and delivered during Q3 2024.

The Agreement was formally executed on May 3, 2024, with a prominent American industrial graphite customer (the "US Client"). The US Client has also expressed interest in negotiating regular purchases, pending positive test results for specific applications. For competitive reasons, the US Client's identity and the Agreement's specific commercial details remain confidential.

Additionally, South Star is pleased to report that another major US graphite company has evaluated, tested and successfully qualified Santa Cruz graphite concentrate on behalf of its leading customer, specifically qualifying Santa Cruz graphite for a green-energy application. South Star has made significant progress qualifying its Santa Cruz graphite concentrate with other major graphite end-users worldwide, who have undertaken extensive product testing as part of their due diligence process for offtake agreements. The Company looks forward to updating the market on the progress of developments with other potential customers if and when details are finalized.

THE SANTA CRUZ GRAPHITE MINE UPDATE

South Star's flagship Santa Cruz Graphite Mine ("Santa Cruz") in northeastern Brazil's Bahia state is scheduled to complete construction of the Phase-1 Plant in June 2024. Once completed, Santa Cruz will be the first new graphite mine in the Americas since 1996. The plant will undergo an estimated six-week commissioning process before commencing commercial production in August 2024. Once steady-state production is reached, the current Phase-1 Plant design can produce approximately 1,000 tonnes per month.

Foto: Accesswire

Image 1:
Aerial view of South Star Battery Metals Corp's Phase-1 processing plant at the Company's flagship
Santa Cruz Graphite Mine, located in Bahia, Brazil. The image was taken on May 3, 2024.
Photo: South Star Battery Metals Corp.

The upcoming drilling campaign and an NI 43-101-guided feasibility study technical report for Phase 2 at Santa Cruz is in the final planning stages, with initial exploration commencing later this month. Environmental permits for Phase 2 (based on a nameplate capacity of 25,000 tonnes/year) and Phase 3 (based on a nameplate capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year) have already been approved. The definitive mining permits are in final review with Brazil's National Mining Agency (Agência Nacional de Mineração). The Company plans to have all permits and licenses required for Phases 2 and 3 of development at Santa Cruz in place by the time the Phase-1 Plant is commissioned.