iTech Minerals Ltd. has received the results of its metallurgical program, undertaken by ANZAPLAN in Germany, to produce high value battery anode material from a bulk sample of run-of-mine material from the Campoona Graphite Deposit. iTech continues to build its portfolio of critical minerals projects with the production of both 99.99% fixed carbon spherical graphite and flake graphite, from Campoona graphite concentrates. Testing of the spherical product confirms it is within or exceeds all relevant industry standard parameters for lithium-ion battery anode material.

High yields of spherical product, of 47%, show the potential for excellent conversion of flake into high value spherical graphite. Additionally, the ability to purify the flake concentrate to 99.99% FC prior to spheronisation, opens the possibility to produce a high value purified fine product rather than the normally low value waste generated during spheronisation. Purified fines left over from spheronisation can be used as conductivity-enhancement additives in the battery cathodes.

Premium performance conductivity enhancement materials are typically worth more than spheroidal graphite produced from natural graphite. The Campoona Graphite Project contains a JORC 2012 graphite Mineral Resource of 8.55 Mt @ 9.0% Total Graphitic Carbon, a granted mining lease and approved multipurpose licences for processing infrastructure and groundwater extraction. iTech is currently investigating the best pathway to produce "green graphite", including the use of abundant renewable energy available in South Australia.

Metallurgical Results Test work was undertaken on bulk sample of run-of-mine graphite ore collected from reverse circulation and diamond drilling at the Campoona Central Deposit. The drill holes were located within areas representative of low strip ratio mineralisation of prime economic interest. A concentrate of 94% TGC with recoveries of 80% were achieved through conventional flotation processes.

Spheronisation of graphite flakes typically uses the small to fine flakes which means >99% of the sample is suitable for PSG production. The process of converting large flakes into smaller particles of a suitable size for anode production is expensive because any additional grinding is energy intensive, adding additional cost to processing. With the Campoona concentrate, the process begins with smaller flake sizes, and the purity can be improved, to 99.99% FC, through low-cost purification, finer flake material becomes particularly attractive for producing battery-grade graphite, and more cost effective than starting with large-flake material.

Additionally, the resultant fines, which would normally be a low value by-product, have the potential to become a high value conductivity enhancement material in battery cathodes. Purification and Spheronisation. The latest results from the metallurgical test work program include results from the purification of both flake and spheronised graphite and on industry standard parameters for the purified spheronised graphite.

As indicated in Table 2 the spherical graphite test program demonstrate that Campoona concentrates are suitable to produce purified uncoated spherical graphite, with all parameters tested within industry standard classification tests. The Campoona Graphite Project contains a JORC 2012 graphite Mineral Resource of 8.55 Mt @ 9.0%. iTech could significantly expand its global graphite resources at both Sugarloaf Graphite Prospect which occurs on EL5791 and EL5920 and the Lacroma Graphite Prospect which occurs approximately 30 km to the north of Campoona on EL6643.

iTech Minerals owns 100% of the graphite rights on EL6643 and EL5920 and right to all minerals on EL5791. The Sugarloaf Prospect was originally explored by Archer Materials between 2011 and 2016 and consists of a large occurrence of microcrystalline graphite. Due to the former prevailing view that graphite deposits needed to have a large flake size to be economic, Archer decided to focus on other prospects.

With a change in demand to fine flake sizes for spherical graphite production, iTech believes that Sugarloaf has the potential to significantly expand the Company's resources of fine flake graphite if metallurgical test work confirms that it can be readily concentrated to battery grade levels. The Lacroma Prospect corresponds to a prominent Electro-Magnetic signature that has a potential strike extent of over 12 kilometres. Initial drilling at Lacroma recorded very wide intercepts of graphite.

Lacroma graphite, like the graphite at Campoona Shaft and Central Campoona, is high crystalline fine flake graphite. Metallurgical test work undertaken by Archer Materials in 2015 showed that a 98.6% TGC concentrate using the same conventional flotation and leaching conditions as for the Campoona Deposits. This suggests that the same processing circuit planned by iTech could also use graphite ore from Lacroma.

iTech is currently planning a substantial drilling program to test both the Sugarloaf Graphite Prospect and the Lacroma EM anomaly. Further drilling at both prospects has the potential to support a substantial Mineral Resource upgrade.