Modern Mining January 2017

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26 MODERN MININGJanuary 2017
Top projects
GRAPHITE
Located in the far north of Mozam-
bique in Cabo Delgado Province,
Balama – which comprises a series
of hills consisting of graphitic schist
– is by no means a new discovery,
as the graphite occurrences in the area were
first documented in the 1890s by John H. Fur-
man, a geologist and engineer working for the
Nyassa Company. In a report he prepared, he
stated that north of Mualia (now the village
of Maputo) he had discovered “the greatest
deposits of graphite, of a most excellent qual-
ity, which I think have ever been found. They
extend several miles in length and will aggre-
gate more than 700 ft in thickness.”
Furman’s discovery was not followed up for
more than a century. In 2006 Canadian junior
Helio Resources applied for a prospecting
licence over the Balama area but its focus was
uranium and base metals mineralisation rather
than graphite. It relinquished the licence in
2010. By 2011 the ground had been picked up
by Syrah, which wasted no time in initiating
a vigorous exploration programme. By early
2013 Syrah was able to announce a maiden
inferred resource for the Balama West deposit
of 564 Mt at 9,8 % Total Graphitic Carbon
(TGC), making it the world’s biggest graphite
deposit by far. The estimate also revealed that
the deposit contained significant vanadium.
Thinking big at Balama
A recent view of the Balama
site showing construction of
the flotation line.
Currently only a minor player in global graphite production, Africa – and specifically Mozambique –
will soon be home to the world’s biggest graphite mine, with ASX-listed Syrah Resources on course to
produce the first graphite concentrate from its US$185 million Balama project in Q3 2017. As Modern
Mining’s Arthur Tassell explains here, the project hosts the world’s biggest resource of graphite and is
expected to be a first quartile producer due to its high grade and the fact that the deposit
lends itself to a low stripping ratio open-pit mining operation.