The Molo deposit occurs within the regional Ampanihy Shear Zone. The most conspicuous feature of rocks found within this shear zone is their well-developed north-southfoliation and vertical to sub-vertical nature. Martelat et al. (2000) state that this observed bulk strain pattern is clearly related to a transpressional regime during bulk horizontal shortening of heated crust, which resulted in the exhumation of lower crustal material.

The Project area is underlain by supracrustal and plutonic rocks of late Neoproterozoic age that were metamorphosed under upper amphibolite facies and deformed with upright north- northeast-trending structures. The supracrustal rocks involve migmatitic (± biotite, garnet) quartzo-feldspathic gneiss, marble, chert, quartzite, and amphibolite gneiss. The metaplutonic rocks include migmatitic (± hornblende / diopside, biotite, garnet) feldspathic gneiss of monzodioritic to syenitic composition, biotite granodiorite, and leucogranite.

The Molo graphitic zone consists of multi-folded graphitic strata with a surficially exposed strike length of over two kilometers. Outcrop mapping and trenching on Molo has shown the surface geology to be dominated by resistant ridges of graphitic schist and graphitic gneiss, with fracture-lined vanadium mineralisation, as well as abundant graphitic schist float.

Geological modelling has shown that the deposit consists of various zones of mineralised graphitic gneiss, with a barren footwall composed of garnetiferous gneiss. The host rock of the mineralised zones is graphitic gneiss.

The surficial, lateral expanse and the massive nature of the Molo deposit make it suitable for open-pit mining methods. It is a typical pipe shaped and steeply dipping ore body, with an extended mineral outcrop along the strike (north-south direction) of the deposit. In this mining method, the following activities are executed:

•The land is cleared, topsoil is removed and stockpiled at designated sites for use in future land rehabilitation. Depending on the extent of the base of weathering, any further waste, or ore that can be removed by free-digging is removed and stockpiled accordingly. The topsoil is planned to be used as a berm around the pit to prevent water flow into the pit and to minimise transportation costs

•In a number of cyclic processes, the waste and/or mineralised material is drilled, charged with explosives and blasted, excavated, hauled and dumped in designated sites

•At strategically planned periods the waste around the boundary of the pit is removed in order to mine out deeper ore. The conventional open pit mining activities are carried out with small to medium sized mining equipment including 20t dump trucks, a 2 m3 excavator and an 8 m3 Front End Loader.

The process design is based on an annual Phase1 feed plant throughput capacity of 240 kilotonnes at a nominal head grade of 8.05% C(t) producing an estimated average of 17 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of final concentrate. The same process design has been applied to an annual Phase 2 feed plant throughput capacity of 720 kilotonnes at a nominal head grade of 8.05% C, which would produce an estimated average of 45 ktpa of final graphite concentrate.

The ore processing circuit consists of three stages of crushing which comprises jaw crushing in the primary circuit, followed by secondary cone crushing and tertiary cone crushing; the secondary and tertiary crushers operate in closed circuit with a double deck classification screen. Crushing is followed by primary milling and screening, graphite recovery by froth flotation and concentrate upgrading circuit by attritioning, and graphite product and tailings effluent handling unit operations. The crusher circuit is designed to opera ........