Focus Graphite Inc. announced the launch of the second phase (12,000 m) of its 2022 core drilling program on its Lac Tétépisca project. Phase 2 of the program was initiated following the receipt on July 6 of two land use permits from the ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks of Québec ("MFFP") relating to the Manicouagan-Ouest Graphitic Corridor ("MOGC") deposit sector and the areas of the "West Limb" and "Southwest MOCG" exploration targets. The Lac Tétépisca graphite project is wholly owned by Focus. It is located on the Nitassinan (ancestral territory) of the Pessamit Innu in the Côte-Nord region, 234 km north-northwest of the city of Baie-Comeau. The exploration drilling program for the West Limb and Southwest MOGC targets aims to validate the occurrence of graphite mineralization within the extension, of the magnetic and electromagnetic anomaly associated with the MOGC deposit, over an approximate distance of five kilometres. A deep infill drilling program is also underway at the MOGC deposit. The purpose of this program is to convert a portion of the 59.3 million tonnes (Mt) of Mineral Indicated Mineral Resources grading 10.61% Cg* into Measured Resources, as well as a portion of the 14.9 Mt of Inferred Mineral Resources grading 11.06% Cg* in Indicated Resources. The conversion of Inferred and Indicated mineral resources to higher category resources is necessary to allow the MOGC deposit to reach the next step
of the development process, the Preliminary Economic Study ("PEA"). To date, 31 holes have been drilled on the Lac Tétépisca project, based on the land use permits obtained previously (total: 6,483.65 metres). The preparation of core samples from these boreholes is underway at IOS Services Géoscientifiques Inc. ("IOS") laboratories located in Saguenay, Québec, and the first batches of samples will be shipped shortly to COREM laboratories located in Quebec City for graphite carbon (Cg) and total sulfur (S(tot)) assays. The drilling program was designed and operated by IOS acting as Focus' main contractor, while Table Jamésienne de Concertation Minière ("TJCM") of Chibougamau, Québec, the Company's technical advisor, is supervising the project. The drilling work was entrusted to Forage G4 of Val-d'Or, Québec.