Graphano Puts a Crew on the Ground at Black Jack Graphite Find

Graphano Energy Ltd. (OTC: GELEF) said a field crew led by St Pierre Exploration has mobilized at its Black Jack graphite discovery in Québec, about one kilometre northwest of Black Pearl, to carry out stripping, mapping, systematic channel sampling and ground geophysics ahead of drilling; the OTC-quoted shares traded at 0.07, up 15.17% on the day as of 14:06 GMT on 23 September 2026.

Graphano Energy Ltd. (OTC: GELEF), which also trades as GEL on the TSX Venture Exchange and 97G0 in Frankfurt, has moved from permits to shovels. The company said a field crew led by St Pierre Exploration is on the ground at its Black Jack graphite discovery in Québec, beginning a program of stripping, mapping and systematic channel sampling under exploration permits issued by the province's Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts.

Black Jack sits roughly one kilometre northwest of Black Pearl, the discovery that has anchored Graphano's recent exploration narrative. That proximity is the whole point of the program. Two mineralized showings a kilometre apart invite the question of whether they are separate occurrences or expressions of the same system, and only trenching, sampling and geophysics answer it cheaply.

What stripping and channel sampling actually buy

The work described is deliberately low-cost, early-stage geology. Stripping means removing overburden — soil, glacial till, vegetation — to expose bedrock. Mapping records what that bedrock is and how it is oriented. Channel sampling cuts a continuous groove across the exposed rock so that a laboratory assay measures grade over a measured width rather than over whatever fragment a geologist happened to pick up. A systematic channel program, run across an outcrop at regular intervals, gives a first read on how thick the graphite horizons are and whether grade holds along strike.

Ground geophysics is the second half of the package. Graphite is electrically conductive, which makes it one of the more cooperative commodities for surface surveys: conductive horizons often show up clearly in electromagnetic and induced-polarization data, and those anomalies can be traced under cover where no rock is exposed. Combining channel grades on surface with a geophysical picture of what continues beneath is how a showing becomes a set of drill collars with coordinates attached.

Graphano said assay and stripping results will be released once all data has been received, which is the standard sequencing — laboratories return batches, and companies generally wait for the full dataset rather than dribbling out partial numbers.

The CEO frames it as a race to drill-ready

"Having boots on the ground at Black Jack marks an important step forward for Graphano," chief executive Dr. Luisa Moreno said, adding that the company is moving quickly to advance the discovery toward drill-ready targets and is building on the strong results seen at Black Pearl one kilometre away. The announcement was carried by INN Battery Metals.

The language matters for a junior explorer. "Drill-ready" is the milestone that unlocks the next, far more expensive phase of work, and it is also the milestone that typically frames a financing. For a company of Graphano's size, the sequence of permits, crew mobilization, surface results and then a drill program is the entire operating calendar. Each step either confirms the geological thesis or quietly retires it.

A 15% day on a penny quotation

Investors treated the update as news. The OTC-quoted shares changed hands at 0.07 as of 14:06 GMT on 23 September 2026, up 15.17% from the prior close of 0.06, with the day's range flat at 0.07 — the signature of a thinly traded micro-cap where a handful of trades set the tape rather than a continuous auction.

That move ran hard against a soft broad market. The S&P 500 tracker was at $770.31, down 0.40% on the day; the Nasdaq 100 proxy sat at $742.37, off 0.68%; and the Dow tracker was at $516.27, down 0.33%. In other words, the bid for Graphano on the day was company-specific, not a rising tide.

Investors should read percentage moves at this price level with care. At a quotation of a few cents, a single tick is a large proportional change, and the OTC listing is the secondary venue — Graphano's primary market is the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, where liquidity and price discovery for the shares principally happen. The OTC quote is a convenience for U.S. holders, not the reference market.

Where graphite sits in the battery basket

Graphite is the least glamorous of the battery inputs and, by mass, one of the largest. It is the standard anode material in lithium-ion cells, and the supply chain for the processed, coated, spherical product that cell makers actually buy has been overwhelmingly concentrated outside North America. That concentration is why Québec flake graphite projects keep attracting exploration capital: the province offers established mining law, hydroelectric power, permitting through the MRNF and proximity to the North American battery build-out.

Every early-stage graphite explorer, however, faces the same two-part test. First, does the rock carry enough flake graphite over enough width to justify a mine? Second, does the concentrate purify and shape into anode-grade material at an acceptable cost? The current Black Jack program addresses only the first question, and only its opening chapter. Nothing in the announcement speaks to resource estimation, metallurgy or economics, and readers should not infer any.

What would change the picture from here

Three things are worth tracking over the coming months.

• The assay batch. Channel grades and, crucially, the widths over which those grades are reported will determine whether Black Jack looks like a narrow curiosity or a target worth drilling.
• The geophysical footprint. If conductive horizons at Black Jack trend toward Black Pearl, the one-kilometre gap becomes a corridor rather than two dots, and the exploration story consolidates into a single system.
• How the drill program gets funded. Surface work is comparatively cheap; drilling is not. Juniors typically raise equity into good news, so watch for financing terms alongside any drill announcement, and for the dilution that comes with them.

For now the company has done the unglamorous thing that separates announcements from activity: it has permits in hand, a contractor on site and rock being exposed. The numbers that matter — grade, width, continuity — are still in the field, and then in a laboratory queue.

Key facts

• Ticker and price: GELEF 0.07, +15.17% on the day, as of 14:06 GMT, 23 Sep 2026
• Listings: TSXV: GEL, OTC: GELEF, FSE: 97G0
• Program: Stripping, mapping, systematic channel sampling and ground geophysics at Black Jack, Québec
• Location: About one kilometre northwest of Graphano's Black Pearl graphite discovery

Frequently asked questions

What is Graphano Energy doing at Black Jack?

A field crew led by St Pierre Exploration has been mobilized to the Black Jack graphite discovery in Québec. The crew is stripping overburden to expose bedrock, mapping the geology and carrying out systematic channel sampling. Ground geophysics will also be completed to prepare the Black Jack sector for exploration drilling. Assay and stripping results will be released once all data has been received.

Where is Black Jack relative to Black Pearl?

Black Jack lies approximately one kilometre northwest of Graphano's Black Pearl graphite discovery in Québec. That short distance is central to the exploration thesis: if geophysics and surface sampling show mineralized horizons trending between the two, the company may be looking at a single continuous system rather than two isolated showings.

How did the shares react?

Graphano's OTC-quoted shares traded at 0.07 as of 14:06 GMT on 23 September 2026, up 15.17% from the prior close of 0.06, with the day's range flat at 0.07. That gain came on a weak broad market, with the S&P 500 tracker down 0.40%, the Nasdaq 100 proxy down 0.68% and the Dow tracker down 0.33%.

What is channel sampling and why does it matter?

Channel sampling cuts a continuous groove across exposed bedrock so that laboratory assays measure grade over a measured width rather than over a random rock chip. It gives an early, comparatively cheap read on how thick mineralized horizons are and whether grade persists along strike, which is the information needed to justify spending money on drilling.

Who granted the permits for this work?

The program is being carried out under exploration permits received from Québec's Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts, the provincial natural resources and forestry ministry. Permits of this kind cover surface disturbance such as stripping and trenching and are a prerequisite before a crew can begin exposing bedrock on the ground.

Why is graphite strategically important?

Graphite is the standard anode material in lithium-ion batteries and, by mass, one of the largest inputs in a cell. Processing into anode-grade material has historically been concentrated outside North America, which is why Québec flake graphite projects attract exploration capital. Early-stage discoveries still face a separate metallurgical test before they can supply that market.

Sources

• Graphano Energy Mobilizes Field Crew to Commence Exploration Program at Black Jack Graphite Discovery — INN Battery Metals