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January 2017
MODERN MINING
27
Top projects
GRAPHITE
Lining of the Tailings Stor-
age Facility (TSF) under-
way with the plant in the
background.
The process route at Balama
comprises crushing, grind-
ing, flotation, filtration, dry-
ing, screening and bagging.
Some of the flotation cells
are seen here.
With the inclusion of the Balama East
deposit, the 2013 estimate has grown substan-
tially with Syrah in May 2015 announcing
a total JORC-compliant resource of almost
1,2 billion tonnes at 11,0 % TGC for 128,5 Mt
of contained graphite and reserves of 81,4 Mt at
16,2 % TGC for 13,2 Mt of contained graphite.
The ore reserve figure has since increased by
40 % with Syrah reporting in November 2016
that proved and probable reserves now total
114,5 Mt at 16,6 % TGC for 18,6 Mt of con-
tained graphite.
Snowden delivered a full feasibility study
(FS) on the project in May 2015, which con-
firmed Balama as the world’s largest flake
graphite project. As detailed in the FS, Balama
will have a nameplate capacity of 350 000
tonnes of concentrate per annum at 98 %
TGC, with the reserves being sufficient for
over 40 years of operation at full production.
The average head grade will be approximately
19 % TGC during the first 10 years of opera-
tions. The FS estimated the IRR at 71 % with
a post-tax NPV
10
of US$1,1 billion and put the
payback period at less than two years from
commercial production.
The Balama mine is now at an advanced
stage of construction. Initial site clearing
started in 2015 and construction of the pro-
cessing plant in 2016. The key contractors on
the project are Kentz (part of SNC-Lavalin),
which is the SMP (Structural, Mechanical and
Piping) contractor, Tayanna Mozambique, the
mining contractor, and CMC Africa, responsible
for the civils. As at the end of November 2016,
the labour force on site numbered 1 435 people,
including 245 employees from the eight host
communities local to the mining concession.
In announcing the appointment of Kentz,
Syrah noted that the company had successfully
operated in Mozambique for 18 years and had a
proven track record of delivering major mining
and metals construction projects in the country.
These have included contracts for the Moma
mineral sands mine, the Moatize coal mine
and the Mozal aluminium smelter, as well as