Sri Lanka is the only region in the world that produces vein (lump) graphite
- During the First and Second World Wars approximately 35,000 metric tons/year of natural graphite were exportedOne of the fastest growing economies in the world – GDP growth: 8.2%
- 25-year civil war ended in May 2009
- The government is keen on promoting foreign private sector investment, with graphite being the country’s one of most important mineral products
- Sri Lanka is underlain by Proterozoic high grade metamorphic rocks with Phanerozoic sediments being restricted to the coastal region
- Sri Lanka has been mining graphite for 200 years
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Carbon content of more than 90%C in commercial quantities
Only two other producing graphite mines in Sri Lanka Today
1. Kahatagaha Graphite Lanka Ltd., owned by the Government of Sri Lanka
- Producing 80 tonnes monthly, and is planning to increase production to 125 tonnes monthly in 2013
- Currently mining at a depth of 350m (1,100 feet)
- Minimum 90% purity with majority by weight being lump type at 95% carbon, +10mm
2. Bogala Graphite Ltd., a 90%-owned subsidiary of Germany’s Graphit Kropfmuhl AG– Producing 250 tonnes monthly from one single vein mine
-Being mined from both ends at 2,299 feet from undergrou
-Was producing 6,000 tonnes of value-added graphite annually prior to the global recession and restarted operation at its Ragedara vein mine in July 2012
