Name of the Project
Ancuabe graphite project.

Location
Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique.

Client
Triton Minerals.

Project Description
Ancuabe has a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant ore reserve of 24.9-million tonnes at 6.2% total graphitic carbon based on two graphite mineral deposits – T12 and T16.

A definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the deposits has confirmed the high quality, long life and high margin of the graphite project.

The DFS is based on production of about 60 000 t/y of graphite concentrate over 27 years. The mine plan is based on the ore reserve, and less than 5% of the production is sourced from inferred mineral resources, which is mined to access the ore reserve.

It is planned that conventional drill-and-blast, load-and-haul, openpit mining will be used to extract the mineralised material. Run-of-mine (RoM) feed will be defined by grade-control procedures in the pit, and delivered by truck to the RoM pad located centrally between the T12 and T16 deposits. Waste will need to be classified according to its potential to be acid forming and be dumped in managed waste dumps adjacent to the openpits. It is planned that mining will be carried out by an experienced earthmoving contractor.

Ancuabe’s process plant will have a throughput from 900 000 t/y to 1.1-million tonnes a year to produce an estimated 60 000 t/y graphite concentrate. The proposed process plant facilities include:
• an RoM pad,
• a tertiary crushing circuit,
• a rod mill feed bin and grinding circuit,
• rougher flotation,
• three stages of attritioning and five stages of cleaner flotation,
• concentrate filtration,
• concentrate drying, classification and bagging three products,
• tailings thickening and storage, and
• reagents.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an unleveraged pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $298-million and an internal rate of return of 36.8%, with a near-term payback of 3.8 years.

Value
Preproduction capital costs are estimated at $99.4-million, including contingency.

Duration
Production is planned to start in the second half 2019, subject to financing and board approvals.

Latest Developments
Triton Minerals has signed its first offtake agreement for the Ancuabe graphite project with China’s Qingdao Tianshengda Graphite Company for up to 16 000 t/y of graphite concentrate from the mine at least five years.

The companies will have the option to extend the offtake by a further five years, with a minimum of 10 000 t/y to be taken up during the contract time, across a range of graphite product specifications.

The price of the graphite concentrate will be determined every six months of the term of the agreement by referencing the prevailing market prices in China, adjusted for flake size and concentrate grade.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Lycopodium and ADP Group (process and plant infrastructure); Knight Piésold (tailings and water storage facilities and site geotechnical investigations; CSA Global (geology and resources, as well as mining and mine design); IMO, ALS Metallurgy (metallurgical testwork); Major Drilling (project drilling); Intertek and Bureau Veritas (assays); and EOH Coastal & Environmental Services Limited (environmental-, social- and health-impact assessment) .

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Triton Minerals, tel +61 8 6489 2555 or fax +61 8 6489 2556.