Overview
Stage | Permitting |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Mine Life | 27 years (as of Jan 1, 2018) |
Battery Minerals Limited is completing the sale of the Balama Graphite Project to Tirupati Graphite (TGR: LSE or ‘Tirupati’). |
Source:
p. 37
The lease is currently held by Suni Resources a wholly owned subsidiary of Battery Minerals.
17 August, 2021 - Battery Minerals Limited (ASX: BAT) (“Battery Minerals” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise that it has entered into agreements, together with its subsidiary Rovuma Resources Limited, to sell its Mozambique graphite assets, through the sale of all the shares in its subsidiary Suni Resources SA, to the London Stock Exchange listed company, Tirupati Graphite plc for a total aggregate consideration of $12.5 million in cash and shares.
Contractors
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Summary:
The Balama Central comprises two prospects named Lennox and Byron which are composed of relatively simple geology with interpreted steeply dipping northwest host lithologies. The graphite forms as a result of high grade (amphibolite) metamorphism of organic carbonaceous matter.
Summary:
Mining at Balama Central will be completed with standard truck and excavator methods. Drill and blast of the fresh material will be required. Pit designs for Lennox and Byron were based on Whittle pit optimisations for each deposit considering project specific unit costs, prices, recoveries and geotechnical inputs. The pit optimisations were constrained within the limits of the Indicated Resources for each deposit. The current design for the Lennox pit extends to a depth of approximately 90m, whilst the current design for Byron pit extends to a depth of approximately 135m deep. Each pit will have a single waste dump, located to the east of each excavation. Pit ramps will be oriented to ensure that both ore and waste haulage distances are minimized. Long-term ore stockpiles will be located between each pit and the ROM pad.
A mining schedule was completed based on the processing plant target production of ~58 ktpa of TGC concentrate at 96% TGC and practical mining constraints. A 75% ramp-up was applied in the first year. To enhance early cashflow, the target feed grade to the plant will average 12.5% TGC. This is maintained for 29 years before reducing.
The cut-off grade was determined through the application of project unit operating costs and recoveries. The recoveries were determined by deposit scale geometallurgical assessment of samples representative of the variable lithology types, oxidation and TGC% grade ranges. The marginal cut off estimated to ........

Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Projected Production:
Commodity | Units | Avg. Annual |
Graphite
|
kt
| 58 |
All production numbers are expressed as concentrate.
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Stripping / waste ratio
| 2 * |
Ore tonnes mined, LOM
| 19,656 kt * |
Total tonnes mined, LOM
| 59,129 kt * |
Tonnes processed, LOM
| 19,656 kt * |
Annual processing rate
| 480 kt * |
Annual ore mining rate
| 480 kt * |
Mining scale, tpd
| 6,000 t |
* According to 2018 study.
Reserves at December 4, 2018:
The Ore Reserve was estimated above a cut-off of 3.4% TGC for weathered and 4.3% TGC for fresh.
The Mineral Resource estimate is reported at a 6 % TGC cut-off.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Graphite |
Probable
|
19.66 Mt
|
Graphite
|
11.06 %
|
2.17 Mt
|
Indicated
|
32.9 Mt
|
Graphite
|
10.2 %
|
3.36 Mt
|
Commodity Production Costs:
| Commodity | Units | Average |
C1 cash costs
|
Graphite
|
USD
|
425 / t *
|
Assumed price
|
Graphite
|
USD
|
1,508 / t *
|
* According to 2018 study / presentation.
2018 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :
Metrics | Units | LOM Total |
Pre-Production capital costs
|
$M USD
|
......
|
Net revenue (LOM)
|
$M USD
|
......
|
Pre-tax IRR, %
|
|
......
|
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Mine Management:
Job Title | Name | Profile | Ref. Date |
.......................
|
.......................
|
|
Oct 17, 2022
|
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Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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