Gratomic Inc. announced that the recent bench-mining program at its Aukam Graphite Mine in Namibia is entering full capacity as road construction on the mountain has been successfully completed. The benching process typically involves successively cutting berms alongside the mountain edge in order to steadily expose underground material, at the same time ensuring the stability of the mountain structure. This process allows for the collection of graphite in stages as the platforms are constructed on the Aukam mountain.

The road construction that includes the ring road connection was completed this week. The road will allow access to three potential platforms that will enhance the exploration program and the bench mining operations. The upper bench for mining operations for graphite extraction is already operational.

The access road is necessary for the exploration and mining teams to access the mineral housed within the Aukam mountain in a safe, efficient, and effective manner. Road construction and early bench-mining were underway simultaneously, however, at lesser amounts of mineral extraction. Completion of the access road paves the way for the exploration and drilling teams to strategically locate and liberate graphite in unison and provides much needed data for the completion of technical reports on the Aukam Graphite Project.

The Company is working towards completing a Feasibility Study (FS) on the Aukam Processing plant. The study, its recommendations, and their subsequent implementation, will provide conclusions and recommendation at a FS level of comfort relating to the scale up of the existing processing plant to a commercial scale processing facility capable of producing the desired concentrate grades and production rates.