Name of the Project
Montepuez graphite project.

Location
Mozambique.

Client
Battery Minerals.

Project Description
Montepuez Stage 1 (M1) is a 50 000 t/y graphite flake project. 

The current project life is 20 years, which Battery Minerals expects to expand to about 100 000 t/y in Stage 2. 

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $146-million and an internal rate of return of 36.2%. Payback has been reduced from 4.75 years in the definitive feasibility study (DFS) to two years in the value engineering study (VES).

Value
Total capital expenditure in the VES is estimated at $42.33-million, compared with $126-million in the February 2017 DFS.

Duration
Steady-state production is expected in the final quarter of 2019.

Complete ramp-up of the first stage of the mine is expected in the third quarter of 2019.

Latest Developments
Battery Minerals has said that it will consider downstream processing at its Montepuez project only once the project’s saleable graphite production is profitable.

MD David Flanagan has said that while the company has done testwork on a number of downstream activities at Montepuez, the focus is to bring the project into production.

Flanagan has indicated that the development of downstream processing capacity will eventuate only with the assistance of a development partner.

Battery Minerals is working to complete financing for the planned 50 000 t/y Stage 1 project, with an estimated 42-million of financing still outstanding.

The company was forced to defer its first graphite shipment from Montepuez last year, after Resource Capital Fund terminated a $30-million debt and equity funding agreement, saying that the graphite market no longer met its investment criteria.

To date, Battery Minerals has spent about $13-million on project development, with the construction completion likely within 12 to 15 months of financing being finalised.

“We are not that motivated to have a 50 000 t/y project that runs for 80 years. I think that the guys would, as quickly as possible, turn that into 100 000 t/y project, and maybe more. We will see how we go,” Flanagan has said.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Battery Minerals, tel +61 8 9322 7600, fax +61 8 9322 7602 or email info@batteryminerals.com.