Black Rock mulls options for Tanzania graphite project

Perth-based Black Rock Mining is considering a range of financing options to bring its Mahenge graphite project in Tanzania into production.

The $116mn first stage of the project is "construction-ready" with blended financing models being considered, including bonds, local and offshore debt, vendor bids and offtake agreements, chief executive John de Vries said.

Mahenge is regarded as the world's fourth largest graphite resource comprising 212mn t grading 7.8pc total graphitic content. It has an ore reserve of 70mn t grading 8.5pc total graphitic content.

A definitive feasibility study outlines plans for the project to be developed in four modules, each producing 85,000 t/yr. At full production, output is expected to reach 340,000 t/yr with a mine life of 16 years. Life of mine cash costs are estimated at $397/t with concentrate basket revenue estimated at around $1,301/t.

Speaking at the annual Africa Down Under mining conference in Perth, de Vries said Mahenge is positioned to start production when demand for energy storage solutions is growing rapidly. Graphite is the main ingredient in the anodes for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and a wide range of other energy storage applications.

He expects global graphite consumption to double in the next decade, with increasing focus on concentrate purity and graphite flake size, adding that demand already exceeds supply for some high specification graphite products.

Black Rock has completed pilot plant graphite production and quality testing in China and Canada in the build-up to project construction and commercial production. The Mahenge project's development schedule is now only subject to the completion of financing arrangements and confirmation of a 16pc free-carried interest for the Tanzanian government.