Inferred and indicated resources at the project’s Target 1 area stand at 7.1 million tonnes grading 4.7% total graphitic carbon for 337,700 tonnes of contained graphite.

This compares to the previous resource which included 5Mt hosting 261,000t of contained graphite.

Lamboo managing director Richard Trevillion emphasised that the estimate only covered about 20% of Target 1 and that expected maiden resources at Targets 2, 5, and 6 could expand the project’s tonnage considerably.

“The company looks forward to the results of the current scoping study as a key step towards planned production late this year,” he said.

“The resource upgrade coupled with the excellent progress being made with potential offtake partners gives cause for much optimism for 2014.”

Some 2500m of drilling was conducted at Target 1 during July and October last year, confirming the presence of a graphite schist that continues 200m southwest of the current resource.

The schist hosting covered by the current resources extends over a strike length of 580m and extends to a depth of about 200m in areas tested by diamond drilling.

Lamboo says the style of mineralisation and the presence of the mineralisation at the surface with only a small poorly mineralised cap of about 1m lends itself to open-cut mining of the graphite schist lens.

A program of work has been approved for 2014 including drilling near Target 1 and is expected to confirm that the graphitic schist horizon extends over a strike length of 3000m.

A 1-tonne bulk sample of graphite pulps from McIntosh has been submitted for metallurgical beneficiation.

The company said enough high-grade flake graphite will be produced to satisfy the testing requirements of potential high-tech end users and provide material for the company’s recently formed Advanced Particle Group subsidiary.

It is planned that bulk flake graphite processing will be completed early in the first quarter.

As part of a recently announced memorandum of understanding, it is planned to send a bulk 20-25 tonne sample of raw graphite from the McIntosh project to China Sciences Hengda Graphite in Yichang for processing as soon as practicable.

Shares in Lamboo were last trading 3.3% higher at A31c.