Australian-based industrial minerals and technology company, Syrah Resources Limited has commenced commercial production at the Balama Graphite Operation in Mozambique.
The Balama mine in Mozambique is a high grade (17 per cent), long life (50 years) asset and is considered to be one of the largest graphite mines in the world.
Operations at Balama commenced at the start of 2018 with Syrah ramping up production to nameplate capacity of 350 kilotonnes (kt) per annum.
The company expects natural graphite production to reach 33 kt in Q4, to a full year natural graphite production of 104 kt.
Syrah achieved average graphite recovery of 70 per cent in Q4 2018, which is a considerable increase on the 53 per cent average graphite recovery recorded in Q3.
Managing Director and CEO, Shaun Verner, said the declaration of commercial production represents a key milestone for the company, reflecting the significantly improved production consistency and strong recovery improvements.
“We continue to implement further operational improvements in ongoing ramp up, to bring recoveries in line with our medium and longer-term targets,” Mr Verner said.
Further details of Syrah Resource’s Q4 2018 performance are set to be released in a Quarterly Activities Report on 30 January 2019.
More information about the Balama Graphite Operation can be found here.