ASX-listed Syrah Resources is aiming to resume natural graphite production at its Balama operation in Mozambique before the end of the June 2025 quarter, following the restoration of site access earlier this month.

Maintenance and inspection teams, along with key contractors for camp services, mining, mobile equipment and power, have returned to site to begin preparatory work ahead of the restart. Inspections to date have not revealed any significant damage to the plant, Ativa pit, tailings storage facility or supporting infrastructure.

Minor maintenance is required prior to and throughout the sequential restart of each section of the plant due to the duration of the outage, the company said in a statement.

Balama was forced offline following community protests in February that blocked access to site. Although Syrah declared a force majeure under the Balama Mining Agreement, the company has since engaged actively with the Mozambican government and regional authorities to restore stability and resume operations.

Restart efforts will initially focus on restoring power, camp preparation and site security, followed by staged recommissioning of the crushing and milling, flotation, filtration and drying, and product screening and bagging circuits. Syrah said its teams are experienced in restarting operations at Balama, having done so previously after a Covid-19-related suspension and during campaign production phases.

The operation has about 400 000 t of run-of-mine ore stockpiled, which is expected to support at least three months of processing. Mining activities are not immediately required to support the production restart and will resume at a later stage.

Product shipments are expected to restart several weeks after plant operations resume.

“There is significant, and increasing, latent demand from customers for Syrah’s natural graphite products due to supply disruptions, including from Balama, in the ex-China natural graphite market,” the company said, adding that its finished product inventory is now fully depleted.

To accelerate delivery times and improve cash flow, Syrah will prioritise breakbulk shipments.

Syrah is also working to resolve historical events of default under its loan agreements with the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the US Department of Energy, which were triggered by the February protests and subsequent operational disruption. DFC has agreed to defer Syrah’s May 2025 interest payment as discussions continue.