PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Production from the Lindi jumbo graphite project, in Tanzania, is expected to be below 40 000 t/y, ASX-listed Walkabout Resources revealed on Friday.
Speaking at the 2016 Africa Downunder conference, Walkabout MD Allan Mulligan said that although the company could not announce the outcome of its scoping study, as it was based on an inferred resource and not a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource, he revealed that the Lindi project would produce at "modest" rates.
“Our production level will be modest, probably the most modest among all the aspirant producers on the ASX,” Mulligan said.
“Unfortunately we can’t announce the production rate or any of the metrics [of the scoping study] because of the ASX rules, but as soon as the resource has been upgraded, we will be coming to the market with those metrics and shortly thereafter with a definitive feasibility study.”
Walkabout has been working to fast-track the development of the Lindi project, with Mulligan saying the decision is based on the exceptional high grade of the graphite found in the deposit.
“We had to make some very considered judgements as Lindi is right in the middle of the best address for premium flake graphite, probably in the world right now, and immediately around us are five other graphite projects in various stages of development,” Mulligan said.
Walkabout previously flagged a 2017 start to construction at Lindi, with the company considering a modular development approach.