Leading Edge Materials Corp. has commenced a first-pass diamond drilling programme at its 100%-owned Woxna Graphite Project in Sweden to test whether three separate local graphite occurrences form a single connected regional system.

The five-hole campaign looks beyond the existing mine footprint, targeting the Kringeltjärn, Råttjärnamyren and Svartboberget occurrences. Woxna already hosts one of the few fully built and permitted natural flake graphite mines in Europe, centred on the Kringelgruvan open pit and processing plant.

The testing hypothesis is supported by historical drilling at Svartboberget that intersected a thick sequence of graphite-bearing rock at depth, alongside historical electromagnetic survey data highlighting conductive trends between the prospects.

“Woxna is one of the few fully built and permitted natural flake graphite mines in Europe, and this drilling programme is a straightforward, low-cost way to test whether we are sitting on a larger, connected graphite system. The historical intersection at Svartboberget, combined with our reinterpretation of the geophysical data, gives us a clear and specific hypothesis to test.”

— Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Officer of Leading Edge Materials

Alongside the exploration update, Leading Edge Materials has received approval from the TSX Venture Exchange to extend the closing date for its non-brokered private placement. The company now expects to close the placement on or before September 25, 2026, subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals.

Net proceeds from the financing will support Pre-Feasibility Study workstreams and environmental permitting for the company's Norra Kärr project, alongside studies related to a possible restart of the Woxna Graphite mine and processing facility. The company expects to report results from the five-hole drilling programme in the coming months.

Read the full announcement: LEADING EDGE MATERIALS DRILLS NEAR-MINE TO TEST FOR A LARGER REGIONAL GRAPHITE SYSTEM AT WOXNA, SWEDEN