Following various operational difficulties in recent quarters, specialist graphite and graphene company Tirupati Graphite expects its Sahamamy and Vatomina operations, in Madagascar, to operate at at least 80% of installed capacity of 30 000 t/y from 2023.

This company reports that it has made important strides in three work streams; firstly, on the installation and commissioning of the Vatomina preconcentrate plant; secondly, on the progress to date with regards to the rebuilding of the road infrastructure to streamline operations for the installed 12 000 t/y capacity; and thirdly, a progress update on the construction phase of the upcoming 18 000 t/y of additional capacity at Sahamamy.

In terms of the first workstream, Tirupati decided to divide its processing flow sheet into two parts, shifting the first leg of processing, which removes 80% to 90% of impurities from the ore, to the mine pit heads referred to as the ‘pre-concentrate’ units.

The construction and relocation of the first leg of Vatomina’s 9 000 t/y plant was initiated in mid-July.

This has now been completed and the preconcentrate and final concentrate plant recommissioned and synchronised in operation.

As a result, the previous requirement for the transport of about 250 000 t/y of ore to the plant has been replaced by the pumping of about 30 000 t/y of ‘pre concentrate’ in slurry form to the main processing plant, eliminating reliance on roads and ore transport vehicles.

The elimination of the transportation of ore and the transformation to the preconcentrate concept is expected to result in a reduction of about 75 000 ℓ of diesel a year for the 9 000 t/y Vatomina plant; a reduction in other costs related to the operation of the ore transport fleet estimated to be equivalent to the cost of diesel consumption saved; and the elimination of the necessity of building a high-cost metalled road from the mine areas to the main processing plant.

Moreover, there is the possibility to enhance capacity of the current Vatomina facility to 18 000 t/y through the installation of a second pre-concentrate plant with limited additions in the mining fleet and main processing plant, which the company is currently assessing.

In terms of the second workstream, the construction of both pre-concentrate and main processing plants at Sahamamy continue to progress and remain on track for completion in September.

The 18 000 t/y plant is designed substantially using the scaled-up equipment installed at Vatomina and the company says it remains confident that, with the extensive ramp-up activities and related modifications made over the past few quarters, these have provided enough inputs for it to ramp up the Sahamamy plant in more or less one quarter.

This leads the management team to believe that from 2023, Tirupati will be well placed to operate at an estimated minimum 80% of installed capacity of 30 000 t/y.

Over the past three weeks, the company used its mining and earthmoving fleet to rebuild all the road network and has reached a stage where all road connectivity is now operational and steps are being taken to strengthen the about 5 km weak points, which should help to counteract the effect of rain when the next wet season begins in January 2023.

Tirupati says it currently remains focussed on streamlining its operations and to complete the next 18 000 t/y facilities.

“We are pleased to have substantially overcome the difficulties we faced in operations over the past few quarters. We have used the time as a learning period to better prepare ourselves for the future.

“With the Vatomina operations coming back online and mobility restored across the two projects we are well placed to push forward our progress and transform further as we plug in the additional capacity upcoming in Sahamamy,” says executive chairperson Shishir Poddar.