TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Project developer DNI Metals has been granted a full commercial mining licence over its Vohitsara graphite project, in Madagascar.
Originally classified as an artisanal mining permit when DNI acquired the property in June, the Madagascar Minister for Mines, through the national mining cadastre office BCMM – the government agency responsible for administrative oversight of all mining tenements in Madagascar – had now granted DNI a full mining permit.
Obtaining the permit marked a significant milestone for DNI in Madagascar, allowing it to move to full commercial production at its option, subject to the completion of the required environmental-impact and social responsibility studies and obligations.
DNI did not consider these requirements as onerous and would work to fulfil these requirements simultaneously with its upcoming fast-track exploration and development programme for the Vohitsara project.
The mining licence had a renewable term of 40 years.
"We were attracted to Madagascar because it is known for its large-flake, high-quality graphite and because the country has a world-class mining code. Additionally, the area in which our project is located contains excellent infrastructure and port facilities and the mineralisation itself is hosted in soft 'free-dig' material that greatly facilitates commercial extraction and processing.
“Having a full commercial mining permit at this stage gives DNI a significant advantage to advance its graphite production plans in Madagascar,” CEO Dan Weir said.
Grab samples from the Madagascar project have returned head grades of 9.85%, 10% and 35.5% graphite. The material had a jumbo and large flake distribution of more than 62.5%, meaning that graphite in those categories contained 91.3% to 97.9% of carbonic graphite.