PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Graphite miner Syrah Resources on Thursday announced that its Balama operation, in Mozambique, had produced 25 000 t of natural graphite in the three months to September, at a C1 cost of $684/t.
Production in the September quarter was down slightly from the 29 000 t produced in the June quarter.
The miner said on Thursday that the quarter under review was constrained by container shipping market disruptions, with only 18 000 t sold and shipped, while a further 12 000 t was delayed from September to the December quarter.
Operational performance during the month of September was excellent, the miner said, with over 15 000 t of graphite produced at a C1 cash cost of $430/t, which is at the low end of the target range for Balama’s restructured cost base.
The cash costs are expected to reduce further as run-rate production increases above 15 000 t a month, as improvement initiatives are embedded in the operation.
Meanwhile, at the end of the quarter, employees at the Balama operation had increased to 512, excluding contractors, representing 95% of the planned labour contingent for the Balama operations.
Production at Balama restarted in March this year, after the operation was suspended in 2020 at the onset of the Covid pandemic.