Name of the Project
Ancuabe graphite project.

Location
Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique.

Project Owner/s
Graphite developer Triton Minerals. Shandong Tianye Mining (STM) has a 19.4% shareholding in Triton.

Project Description
Ancuabe has a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant ore reserve of 24.9-million tonnes at 6.2% total graphitic carbon based on the T12 and T16 mineral deposits.

A definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the deposits has confirmed the high quality, long life and high margin of the graphite project.

The DFS is based on the production of about 60 000 t/y of graphite concentrate over 27 years. The mine plan is based on the ore reserve, and less than 5% of the production is sourced from inferred mineral resources, which are mined to access the ore reserve.

It is planned that conventional drill-and-blast, load-and-haul, openpit mining will be used to extract the mineralised material. Run-of-mine (RoM) feed will be defined by grade-control procedures in the pit, and delivered by truck to the RoM pad located centrally between the T12 and T16 deposits. Waste will need to be classified according to its acid-forming potential and be dumped in managed waste dumps adjacent to the openpits. It is planned that mining will be carried out by an experienced earthmoving contractor.

Ancuabe’s process plant will have a throughput of between 900 000 t/y and 1.1-million tonnes a year to produce an estimated 60 000 t/y graphite concentrate. The proposed process plant facilities include:
• an RoM pad;
• a tertiary crushing circuit;
• a rod mill feed bin and grinding circuit;
• rougher flotation;
• three stages of attritioning and five stages of cleaner flotation;
• concentrate filtration;
• concentrate drying, classification and bagging of three products;
• tailings thickening and storage; and
• reagents.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an unleveraged pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $298-million and an internal rate of return of 36.8%, with a near-term payback of 3.8 years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital costs are estimated at $99.4-million, including contingency.

Planned Start /End Date
Production is planned to start in the second half of 2019, subject to financing and board approvals. First production is expected in late 2020.

Latest Developments
Triton Minerals has recommitted itself to the original full-scale development of its Ancuabe graphite project outlined in the 2017 DFS.

The decision to advance straight to a large-scale development is based on the strong and increasing demand for graphite from the battery and industrial applications sector, and the potentially exceptional returns that could be generated.

Earlier this year Triton completed a strategic review and desktop study on the Ancuabe project, considering various alternatives to bring the project into production in the short term, including a Stage 1 development of a commercial pilot plant producing 5 000 t/y to 8 000 t/y of graphite concentrate, which would later be expanded to the Stage 2 project targeting the 60 000 t/y production.

Triton is now completing a revised project plan, starting with an update of the 2017 DFS, which will focus on updating the basket pricing, up-front capital expenditure (capex), operating costs and sustaining capex.

Potential investor Shandong Yulong, as proposed cornerstone investor into Triton Minerals, is willing to provide the company with expertise in several disciplines, including engineering, mining technology and construction, marketing and finance.

Triton announced a A$5-million investment from the Chinese-listed commodities trader in September, under which it would subscribe for more than 178.5-million shares in Triton, at a price of 2.8c each, each with a free-attaching option and an expiry date of the end of December 2025, and an exercise price of 4c each.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Lycopodium and ADP Group (process and plant infrastructure); Knight Piésold (tailings and water storage facilities and site geotechnical investigations); CSA Global (geology and resources, as well as mining and mine design); IMO, ALS Metallurgy (metallurgical testwork); Major Drilling (project drilling); Intertek and Bureau Veritas (assays); EOH Coastal & Environmental Services Limited (environmental-, social- and health-impact assessment); and MCC International (construction contract).

Contact Details for Project Information
Triton Minerals, tel +61 8 6489 2555 or fax +61 8 6489 2556.