A preliminary economic assessment outlined initial capex of US$121 million for a 15-year mine producing an average annual 7,435 tonnes of coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) and 8,421t of micronized graphite product.

It put the post-tax NPV8 at $248 million and IRR at 37.6%.

The PEA was based on the Kringel deposit, one of four at Woxna but the only one with an environmental and water permit enabling mining.

The study considered upgrading Kringel's existing processing plant to produce concentrate and a separate value-add facility, anticipating a 45% yield to the active anode material product stream, with rejected fines further processed to produce a micronized graphite product.

CEO Filip Kozlowski said Woxna could enable Europe to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports, which currently dominated 100% of the processing of natural flake graphite for lithium-ion battery anode applications.

"The PEA demonstrates the competitive advantage of the project's Swedish location, with access to hydropower the planned production is not only shown to be potentially cost competitive with current global alternatives but also enables a minimal carbon footprint for our products," he said.

A separate report would calculate the project's environmental impact.

Elsewhere, Leading Edge is considering appealing the refusal in May of a mining lease for its Norra Karr rare earths project in Sweden.

It recently sold its Bergby lithium project in Sweden and has a 51% stake in the Bihor Sud nickel-cobalt exploration alliance in Romania.

The company reported a net loss of about C$670,000 at January 31.

Leading Edge shares (TSXV: LEM) closed up 4.8% to C22c yesterday but are down more than 40% this year.

It's capitalised at $32.3 million (US$26.7 million).