PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed junior Metals of Africa has pushed back the completion date of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) on its Montepuez flake graphite operation, in Mozambique, from December 2016 to the first quarter of 2017.
The company told shareholders on Wednesday that while it was disappointed with the delay, the additional time provided Metals of Africa with an opportunity to include a spherical graphite prefeasibility study (PFS) with the release of the DFS.
The inclusion of the spherical graphite PFS is in line with the company’s strategy of becoming a significant player in the spherical graphite sector, said MD Cherie Leeden.
“Our company is in a unique position in that our co-owned spherical graphite facility located in the US, is fully operational. By January 2017, we aim to be producing anode-ready material for battery end-user qualification. The potential of the battery minerals industry is enormous and graphite is a key ingredient in all lithium-ion batteries, arguably the most important battery of our time,” said Leeden.
“We are advancing high-quality projects in the best graphite province in the world. Completing our DFS in the first quarter of 2017 will allow the spherical graphite economic parameters to be included in the study, which is our company’s main focus and should deliver robust value for our shareholders.”