JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused Walkabout Resources is fast-tracking project development at its Lindi Jumbo graphite mine, in south-eastern Tanzania, to commence with surface mining and processing operations on site.

The ASX-listed miner announced on Wednesday that the results of the recently conducted Level 1 scoping study had proved the project to be technically and financially robust, prompting Walkabout to further project development “on an accelerated basis”.

The company currently had a 70% interest in four contiguous exploration licences in the area, for a total exploration area of about 325 km².

The company’s exploration team, which had been mobilised, would commence with a modest reverse-circulation and diamond drill programme this week. Walkabout advised that the programme was designed to achieve several objectives required to increase confidence in the technical data of the project.

These objectives included a partial upgrade of the inferred, indicated and measured resource definition; an expansion of the inferred resource to include more available tonnes of graphite available for extraction; the required geotechnical information to finalise the tailings storage facility and waste rock dump design; and the required geotechnical information to finalise mining pit slope designs.

Walkabout also hoped to achieve suitable condemnation drilling for various infrastructure locations across the site and hoped to gain the required hydrological information to finalise the water balance and required water-use application.

Moreover, the company wished to execute an extensive and appropriate trenching campaign to provide further geological and other technical data into the design and study process, and needed to provide further and substantive drill core for ongoing metallurgical testwork, which would also be used for characterisation works leading to final-process plant design.

The data recovered from this work effort, and the coordination of site activities, would also facilitate the submission of the final environmental impact assessment, leading to the mining licence application; the start of negotiations with local land stakeholders, in line with statutory requirements; an upgrade of the Level 1 scoping study to that of a Level 3 definitive feasibility study, and the start of initial design and project management efforts.