JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The MD of ASX newcomer Graphex Mining, Phil Hoskens, on Tuesday outlined plans for the Chilalo graphite project, in Tanzania, telling shareholders that discussion were being advanced to secure an offtake deal and to finalise funding.

He said that the IMX Resources spin-off, which made a successful debut on the ASX on Tuesday, was confident of being able to conclude a binding transaction for offtake and financing with China Gold and China National Building Materials (CNBM) “within months of listing”.

Hoskens said Graphex expected China Gold and CNBM to demonstrate their interest in the project by investing directly in project equity. The two State-owned companies were also likely to assist with facilitating project debt financing.

Representatives from China Gold, CNBM and Suzhou testing authority would visit the Chilalo site next week to complete due diligence activities.

The successful completion of an offtake and financing deal would underpin the development of the Chilalo project, which Hoskens said could be one of the first ASX-listed graphite projects to enter production.

Graphex would apply for a mining licence at the project “soon after listing” and expected the right to be granted in the coming months.

“This should allow us to finalise any agreement we are able to reach with China Gold and CNBM and set Graphex on the path to developing and constructing a world-class graphite mine in Tanzania.”

A prefeasibility study estimated that the Chilalo project would produce an average of 69 000 t/y of graphite concentrate, over a ten-year mine life, and would cost $74-million to build.

Prior to listing, the company raised A$7-million through a heavily oversubscribed capital raising, which was priced at 20c a share.

Graphex’s listing was considered one of the most successful in recent times, with its 20c shares opening at 33c a share. The stock hit an intra-day high of 38c a share, before closing at 36.5c a share when the day’s trading came to an end in Sydney.