SYRAH RESOURCES DISCOVERS EVEN MORE GRAPHITE

The Australian based mining company Syrah Resources has announced that an updated resource estimate for its Balama project, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, has increased the inferred reserves of graphite to 117 million tonnes, along with 2.7 million tonnes of vanadium pentoxide.According to Syrah, this confirms that the project contains far more graphite that the known reserves in the rest of the world (77 million tonnes according to the US Geological Survey).Syrah plans to be the world’s lowest cost producer of graphite, producing a very high grade and quality product. It describes Balama as “an extraordinary deposit” that “could meet demand requirements across all natural graphite flake ranges for several generations”, and adds that “given the low impurities contained in the graphite concentrate, Syrah expects to achieve premium prices on its product range”.The Balama concession, covering an area of 106 square kilometres, is about 265 kilometres west of the port of Pemba.Graphite is a form of carbon which is highly valued due to its properties as a conductor of electricity. It is used in batteries and fuel cells, and is the basis for the “miracle material” graphene, which is the strongest material ever measured, with vast potential for use in the electronics industries. World production of graphite stands at about 1.3 million tonnes per year and prices vary widely depending on quality and size. Powdered graphite sells for about 700 US dollars a tonne whilst top quality large flakes sell for around 6,000 dollars a tonne.Vanadium pentoxide sells for over 13,000 dollars a tonne.