South Star Battery Metals Corp. (TSXV: STS) (OTCQB: STSBF) announced it has prepared its first graphite concentrate shipment from the Santa Cruz plant in Brazil and completed the commissioning phase during the first week of May.

The company processed approximately 5,136 tonnes of run-of-mine ore since restarting the plant, producing about 25 tonnes of graphite concentrate. Monthly throughput increased from 1,337.5 tonnes in April 2026 to 3,798.5 tonnes in May 2026.

The plant achieved graphite concentrate grades of up to 97% carbon during the first month of startup operations. All major equipment is now operational, and newly hired employees have completed training and moved into permanent production roles.

Operations have advanced from a single 9-hour shift to continuous 24-hour cycles. The company stated that modifications implemented in the plant feed and front-end processing area have stabilized the downstream process.

Near-term objectives include fine-tuning the filter press, installing grinding circuit equipment, and adjusting operations to reach an annual production target of 5,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate, according to the company's technical report filed with ANM, Brazil's mining regulatory agency.

"Our team, led by COO Rogerio Barcellos, has delivered an exceptional 2 months of operational results," said Interim CEO Tiago Cunha in a statement.

South Star Battery Metals is a Canadian battery metals project developer focused on near-term production projects in the Americas. The Santa Cruz project is located in southern Bahia, Brazil.