Name of the Project
Santa Cruz graphite project – pilot plant.

Location
The project is located in southern Bahia, Brazil.

Project Owner/s
South Star Battery Metals Corp.

Project Description
Santa Cruz hosts 12.31-million tonnes of proven and probable reserves grading 2.4% graphitic carbon for a mine life of 12 years.

The project entails the construction of a 5 000 t/y pilot plant. The aim of the pilot plant operation is to prove the economic and technical viability of the project at a small scale, while allowing South Star to produce and qualify large-scale samples (1 t to 20 t) in the marketplace.

The pilot plant is Phase 1 of the proposed path to production and includes a small-pit pilot processing plant, filtered tails technology, a waste-storage facility for the co-disposal of waste rock and filtered tails, as well as civil infrastructure.

The experience gained and commercial relationships established from Phase 1 operations will be used to scale up the operations as part of the Phase 2 expansion plan.

The Phase 2 production facility will be similar in layout and process technology, but will be able to produce 25 000 t/y of high-quality concentrate.

Phase 3 will take production to 50 000 t/y of high-quality concentrate.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $81.2-million and an internal rate of return of 35%, with a payback period of four years.

Capital Expenditure
Phase 1 will cost $7.3-million and Phase 2 $27.2-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Phase 1 construction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2024. 
The plant will undergo an estimated six-week commissioning process before starting commercial production in August 2024.

Latest Developments
South Star has announced a binding sales agreement with a prominent US industrial graphite customer for the initial purchase of 100 t of graphite concentrate from the Santa Cruz mine.

The material will be shipped in five shipping containers, each holding 20 one-tonne super stacks.

The client has expressed interest in negotiating regular purchases, pending positive test results for specific applications.

Another major US graphite company has also tested and successfully qualified Santa Cruz graphite concentrate on behalf of its leading customer, qualifying the product for a green-energy application.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
South Star Battery Metals Corp, tel +1 604 706 0212 or email info@southstarbatterymetals.com