PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior First Graphite has inked a purchase agreement with Sri Lanka government-owned Kahatagah Graphite Lanka (KGLL) to purchase all its premium-grade vein graphite for a two-year period.
The sales agreement will ensure that First Graphite has a sufficient supply of graphite to commission and ramp up its own projects in Sri Lanka, without any interruptions to the graphene initiative, First Graphite’s primary source of growth going forward.
First Graphite told shareholders on Friday that the company was pleased to partner with KGLL, particularly considering the number of other parties that had approached the government-owned entity in recent times.
As part of the agreement, First Graphite will work with KGLL to provide assistance for value adding downstream opportunities for the company’s graphite.
Meanwhile, First Graphite is expecting its own production volumes to increase throughout 2017, as the company addresses issues at its own operations.
The miner noted that the development of its Sri Lankan mines had been more challenging than anticipated, mostly owing to ground conditions in the initial excavation of shafts.