Name of the Project
Ancuabe graphite project.

Location
Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique.

Client
Triton Minerals.

Project Description
Ancuabe has a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant ore reserve of 24.9-million tonnes at 6.2% total graphitic carbon based on two graphite mineral deposits – T12 and T16.

A definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the deposits has confirmed the high quality, long life and high margin of the graphite project.

The DFS is based on production of about 60 000 t/y of graphite concentrate over 27 years. The mine plan is based on the ore reserve, and less than 5% of the production is sourced from inferred mineral resources, which is mined to access the ore reserve.

It is planned that conventional drill-and-blast, load-and-haul, openpit mining will be used to extract the mineralised material. Run-of-mine (RoM) feed will be defined by grade-control procedures in the pit, and delivered by truck to the RoM pad located centrally between the T12 and T16 deposits. Waste will need to be classified according to its potential to be acid forming and be dumped in managed waste dumps adjacent to the openpits. It is planned that mining will be carried out by an experienced earthmoving contractor.

Ancuabe’s process plant will have a throughput from 900 000 t/y to 1.1-million tonnes a year to produce an estimated 60 000 t/y graphite concentrate. The proposed process plant facilities include:
• an RoM pad,
• a tertiary crushing circuit,
• a rod mill feed bin and grinding circuit,
• rougher flotation,
• three stages of attritioning and five stages of cleaner flotation,
• concentrate filtration,
• concentrate drying, classification and bagging three products,
• tailings thickening and storage, and
• reagents.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an unleveraged pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $298-million and an internal rate of return of 36.8%, with a near-term payback of 3.8 years.

Value
Preproduction capital costs are estimated at $99.4-million, including contingency.

Duration
Production is planned to start in the second half 2019, subject to financing and board approvals.

Latest Developments
Triton Minerals has signed an offtake agreement with China’s Haida Graphite for graphite concentrate from the Ancuabe project.

The term sheet sets the framework for a binding offtake agreement that is expected to be signed by March 15.

The offtake agreement is substantially on the same terms as the term sheet with Tianshengda Graphite.

The latest term sheet means that the company has executed offtake term sheets for up to 32 000 t/y of graphite concentrate from Ancuabe, which equates to about 50% of the project's expected yearly production.

Once converted to binding agreements, these will support project financing negotiations and strategic marketing strategies for the balance of the project's graphite concentrate production.

The offtake term sheet with Haida contains key terms including an option to extend for a further five years, up to 16 000 t/y of Ancuabe graphite concentrate with a minimum quarterly volume commitment of 2 500 t, with the price being set every six months at prevailing market graphite prices, as well as be distributed across all Ancuabe flake sizes.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Lycopodium and ADP Group (process and plant infrastructure); Knight Piésold (tailings and water storage facilities and site geotechnical investigations; CSA Global (geology and resources, as well as mining and mine design); IMO, ALS Metallurgy (metallurgical testwork); Major Drilling (project drilling); Intertek and Bureau Veritas (assays); and EOH Coastal & Environmental Services Limited (environmental-, social- and health-impact assessment) .

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Triton Minerals, tel +61 8 6489 2555 or fax +61 8 6489 2556.