Macro view of crushed high-purity crystalline vein graphite from the Kahatagaha mine.

The world's only source of 99%+ vein graphite.

Mined 610 metres into Sri Lanka's Kahatagaha seam since 1872. Crystalline carbon purity that exists nowhere else commercially.

Request Technical Data View Grade Specifications
1872
First shaft sunk at Kahatagaha
610 m
Deepest mine in Sri Lanka
99%+
Carbon, fully crystallised
11
Graded products in production

Vein graphite is not made. It is found.

Most graphite on the market begins below usable purity. Flake ore is mined at a fraction of its final carbon content and chemically upgraded. Synthetic graphite is manufactured from petroleum coke at high temperature. Both arrive at purity through processing.

Kahatagaha's deposit formed differently. Carbon crystallised geologically into solid veins running through hard rock, and comes out of the ground already above 99% carbon in fully crystallised form.

Buyers are paying for that native crystallinity. The structure is geological rather than induced, and the purity is a property of the seam rather than a processing result that varies batch to batch.

HEXAGONAL SP2 LATTICE NO CHEMICAL UPGRADE SINGLE DEPOSIT
A hand resting on drill core at the mine, with a band of crystalline graphite visible in the rock.
DRILL CORE AT THE FACE, GRAPHITE BAND VISIBLE IN HOST ROCK
HEXAGONAL SP2 CARBON LATTICE   /   0.335 nm INTERLAYER SPACING

Two shafts, one seam, six hundred and ten metres down.

Kahatagaha and Kolongaha were separate mines until the government amalgamated them in 1973. Today they work the same vein from two access points, on roughly 102 acres of land, ninety kilometres from Colombo.

SURFACE 200m 400m 600m KOLONGAHA 330 ft / 101 m KAHATAGAHA 1,132 ft / 345 m WORKINGS BELOW SHAFT BOTTOM 610 m / 2,000 ft DEEPEST POINT WORKED
Two miners in high-visibility vests loading the cage at an underground station in the Kahatagaha mine.
1973
Two separate mines amalgamated under state ownership
~500 m
Widest lateral extent of the worked seam
102 acres
Total land held, 76 under coconut cultivation
25 m
Surface elevation, hilly Kurunegala terrain

Four forms out of one seam.

The same crystalline material is separated into lump, chip, flake and powder. Series designation reflects the processing route, not a change of source.

Lump vein graphite pieces on a white surface.

Lump

KL SERIES / UP TO 99%+
A large specimen of crystalline vein graphite showing its layered structure.

Run of mine

AS EXTRACTED
A cone of coarse graphite flake on a white surface.

Flake and chip

KC SERIES / 90 TO 99%
A cone of finely milled graphite powder on a white surface.

Powder

KP SERIES / UP TO 99%+

Eleven grades, plotted by carbon content.

Every grade is drawn from the same crystalline vein. The KL and KP series reach above 99% carbon; nothing in the range is blended from another source.

KC SERIES
90-92
92-95
95-97
97-99
KF SERIES
90-92
KL SERIES
95-97
97-99
99+
KP SERIES
90-92
97-99
99+
% CARBON
889092949698100

Where high-purity vein graphite goes to work.

Carbon content and crystallinity at this level are relevant to a specific set of industrial buyers.

Battery and EV anodes

Anode feedstock for lithium-ion cells, where native conductivity cuts the processing burden.

Refractories and foundry

Crucibles, furnace linings and foundry facings that have to survive thermal shock.

Friction systems

Friction modifiers in brake pads and clutch facings across automotive drivetrains.

Conductive coatings

Electrically conductive paints and coatings used for shielding and grounding.

Lubricants and seals

Dry-film lubrication, gaskets and bearings where oil-based products break down.

Advanced composites

Carbon loading in polymer and metal composites where purity limits contamination.

Vein graphite, next to the alternative.

FLAKE AND SYNTHETICChemically upgraded carbon

  • Starts below natural purity, refined upward through acid or thermal treatment
  • Crystallinity varies by batch and by refining process
  • Purity ceiling limited by the source ore
  • Additional processing cost passed to the buyer

KAHATAGAHA VEINNaturally crystallised carbon

  • Already above 99% carbon as mined, before any upgrading
  • Crystal structure formed geologically, not chemically induced
  • No commercially available equivalent anywhere else
  • Graded rather than refined, from a single consistent deposit

Request technical data and current availability.

Specification sheets, samples and shipping terms are handled directly by the marketing department at head office.

+94 11 236 8737 kgllho2019@gmail.com