Name of the Project
Balama graphite project.

Location
Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.

Project Owner/s
Natural graphite and battery anode company Syrah Resources.

Project Description
Balama is one of the highest-grade large-flake deposits globally. The project has mineral reserves of 108-million tonnes grading 16% total graphitic carbon (TGC) and mineral resources of 1.42-billion tonnes grading 10% TGC.

The project will be a high-grade, openpit operation using conventional mining methods with an extremely low stripping ratio. Operations will start with free-dig mining within the high-grade pits of Balama West using conventional truck-and-shovel mining. Operations will shift to the pits in Balama East thereafter.

The processing plant will have a feed rate of two-million tonnes a year using conventional processes, including crushing and screening, grinding, flotation, filtration and drying, as well as classification, screening and bagging.

Graphite concentrate will be transported using a sealed highway south-east of the project and shipped at the Port of Nacala, about 490 km away.

The mine is expected to produce an average of 365 000 t/y of graphite concentrate during its first ten years of production, and has a 50-year mine life.

The mine’s production will be sold to traditional industrial graphite markets and emerging technology markets.

Syrah also intends to pursue its downstream strategy, which involves further processing of flake graphite from Balama into spherical graphite at a plant in Louisiana, in the US. Spherical graphite is a high-margin, value-added product that is currently in significant demand, owing to its use in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicle and energy-storage applications.

Potential Job Creation
The labour contingent increased to 499 staff in the quarter ended June 2021, excluding contractors.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Based on the assumptions used in the feasibility study dated May 2015, the  project has a post-tax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $1.1-billion and an internal rate of return of 71%, with a payback period of less than two years from the start of commercial production.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Syrah Resources declared force majeure at its Balama graphite mine in December 2024, amid post-election civil unrest in Mozambique.

Contested election results, announced following the October 9 general election, have caused widespread disruptions throughout Mozambique, including at several mining operations.

Circumstances surrounding the general election and the ongoing protests are significantly impacting on national government operations, and hindering the ability of district and provincial government authorities to resolve illegal protest actions at Balama.

Protests at Balama started in late September and  impeded Syrah’s ability to conduct operations on site.  Theses actions were originally linked to a small group of farmers with historical farmland resettlement grievances. Prior to the Mozambique general election, and since the election outcomes were announced, protest actions have continued, with segments of the local population not directly involved in Balama’s resettlement process conflating unrelated issues and objectives, the company has said.

Syrah said in December that it could not conduct a production campaign at the Balama operation, which was required to replenish finished product inventory and for customer sales.

According to Syrah, the resolution of the Balama protest would take time, owing to broader unrest and disruptions across Mozambique and the new Mozambique government not being formed until January 2025.

The impact and duration of these actions have triggered events of default in Syrah’s loans with the US International Development Finance and the US Department of Energy, with whom Syrah is engaging.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
CPC Engineering (detailed engineering and design).

Contact Details for Project Information
Syrah Resources GM – investor relations John Knowles, tel +61 419 893 491 or email ljknowles@optusnet.com.au.