SYRAH RESOURCES SIGNS HUGE GRAPHITE CONTRACT

The Australian based mining company Syrah Resources announced on Thursday that it has signed a major contract for the supply of graphite from its Balama project in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.Under the five-year deal, it will provide a total of 50,000 tonnes of coated and uncoated spherical graphite per year. The graphite will be sold to the Japanese company Marubeni, who will supply it to customers for battery and anode production.According to the company, the price of the graphite will be negotiated on a quarterly basis between the two companies with reference to market prices.The Balama project is still in its construction phase and is expected to begin production early next year. Syrah states that Balama will be the world’s largest producer of high purity graphite and has sufficient reserves for forty years of production.The company is looking at building a factory in the United States to process and add value to the Mozambican graphite.Balama holds a world-class deposit of graphite, along with vanadium. Analysts expect the demand for graphite to increase in line with the development of electric vehicles and other battery-reliant devices.Graphite is a form of carbon that 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. Graphite is also used for high quality steel production.Following the statement, shares in Syrah Resources ended the day six per cent higher on the Australian Stock Exchange.