Graphite reconnaissance, Minas Gerais - Bahia region, Brazil, March 2024

This report summarises the visit to Brazil from 14 to 21 March 2024 by Dr David Currie, minerals scientist at the British Geological Survey (BGS), as part of a BGS research collaboration on Brazilian graphite resources. The main purpose of this visit was to build a field-based knowledge-exchange collaboration on graphite mineralisation between BGS and the Brazilian Geological Survey (SGB) and to assist SGB with the collection and analysis of graphite-bearing samples. This visit lasted two weeks and included Dr Kathryn Goodenough and Jonathan Ford. It consisted of several days of meetings with SGB and the ‘Lithium and development: challenges and opportunities for Minas Gerais’ workshop in Belo Horizonte prior to graphite reconnaissance fieldwork. The trip also involved a visit to the Companhia Brasileira de Lítio (CBL) underground mine with SGB staff, Dr Goodenough, PhD student Sofia Chinaglia and her supervisor, Dr Andrew Miles of Leicester University. The work formed part of the NEE7891S (NC) Regional International Geoscience project, which focused on understanding the geology of lithium and graphite mineralisation in Brazil.