Sarytogan launches deep hunt for Kazakh copper prize

Sarytogan Graphite has fired up a maiden diamond drilling campaign at the Ilkin prospect, part of its Baynazar copper exploration project in central Kazakhstan, targeting what all the geological markers hint could be a significant copper porphyry system.

The company has planned a four-hole, 1000-metre program designed to probe the most compelling targets generated from a systematic exploration push that began when the ground was first pegged in 2024.

The decision to bring in the diamond rig follows a string of encouraging results from prior work. Exploration by Sarytogan kicked off with a high-resolution aeromagnetic survey in early 2025, followed by the collection of more than 6000 soil samples, which identified multiple prospects, including Ilkin.

Trenching at Ilkin in 2025 delivered a solid 270-metre intercept grading 0.13 per cent copper, including 92m assaying 0.20 per cent copper and a higher-grade 30-metre section going 0.31 per cent copper.

‘The planned diamond drilling will reveal the geology in far higher detail.’

Sarytogan Graphite managing director Sean Gregory

A follow-up shallow drilling program of 130 KGK holes for 1775m was completed late last year. KGK is a Soviet-developed drilling method, often called “top of bedrock” or “water-flush coring drill”, allowing drillers to punch through thick layers of topsoil and weathered rock to access fresh bedrock for geological sampling.

The KGK drilling successfully bored through shallow surface cover to drill refusal at an average depth of 12m and a maximum depth of 40m.

Near-surface copper signatures in soil are often highly mobile and widespread. Sarytogan’s choice of drilling method homed in on the real copper anomalism at or near fresh bedrock to remove the red herrings introduced by weathering, which can either boost or deplete geochemical results.

Sampling of the underlying fresh bedrock nailed a strong, 600m-diameter copper anomaly with grades of up to 0.5 per cent copper from just 6m depth, right in the bullseye of the company’s nominated target.

Management says the distribution of metals is a classic sign of a copper porphyry system, where copper sits at the core of the mineralised zone, with lead and zinc forming a surrounding halo.

Sarytogan managing director Sean Gregory said: “With a circular aeromagnetic feature, an historical mineralised drillhole, copper and pathfinder soil anomalies, and bedrock anomalies from KGK drilling, Ilkin is a prime candidate for a copper porphyry system.”

The company’s current diamond drilling program is designed to test the porphyry model at depth. The first hole is already underway, targeting the core of the bedrock anomaly where the previous 0.5 per cent copper result was recorded.

The second planned hole will twin and validate a historical Soviet-era drill hole, which reportedly encountered 22m of weathered, copper carbonate mineralised diorite from surface before hitting copper sulphide and molybdenum mineralisation at greater depth, accompanied by quartz-chalcopyrite veining.

While the old Soviet records suggest they jagged copper grades ranging from 0.02 per cent to 0.1 per cent and increasing with depth, the reliability of the numbers is unknown. Sarytogan’s new hole will aim to verify those intriguing old results.

A third hole will test another copper anomaly of up to 0.2 per cent copper and 0.4 grams per tonne gold near a geological contact between sedimentary and intrusive rocks – a classic setting for porphyry mineralisation. The final hole will investigate an area where previous shallow drilling returned 0.15 per cent copper with associated silver and gold.

The Ilkin project occupies a geological terrane known for its world-class copper mines. According to industry data, Kazakhstan is home to four of the world’s five lowest-cost copper mines.

While the copper hunt at Baynazar is clearly gathering momentum, the company’s primary focus remains its namesake Sarytogan graphite project.

The mammoth graphite deposit in central east Kazakhstan is already designated a “Strategic Project” under the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act. With a definitive feasibility study for the graphite project nearing completion and scheduled for release in the next quarter, the copper drilling adds another layer of potential news flow.

Sarytogan’s diamond drilling at Ilkin is scheduled to be completed in August, with the all-important assay results expected in the final quarter of 2026.

If the company’s geologists have read the tea leaves correctly at Baynazar, Sarytogan could soon have a serious copper contender on its hands to complement its world-class graphite asset.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au