PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Triton Minerals on Tuesday confirmed that two of its security and caretaker staff had been fatally injured at its Ancuabe graphite project, in Mozambique, following an insurgent attack last week.

The company went into a trading halt following news of the attack, which saw fellow-listed Syrah Resources and Battery Minerals move to allay shareholder fears that their own operations had been impacted.

Triton told shareholders that the company was liaising with local authorities, defence and security forces, as well as the Ministry of Mineral Resources & Energy while an assessment of the situation continues.

“The management and employees of Triton are devastated by the loss of our colleges and our focus is on supporting our workforce in the region, and their families,” said executive director Andrew Frazer.

“The security, health and safety of employees and contractors is critical to Triton.”

Frazer noted that no material damage occurred at the mine site, and that Triton remained fully committed to the development the Anucabe project, and understood that the authorities were doing "everything in their power" to ensure the ongoing security and stability of the region.

Triton recently undertook a strategic review and desktop study to consider various alternatives to bring the project into production in the short term, identifying the initial development of a commercial pilot plant (CPP) as part of a two-stage development strategy.

Stage 1 would consist of the development and construction of the CPP for a small-scale processing plant, capable of producing flake graphite concentrate on a commercial basis, and targeting processing of 100 000 t/y to 125 000 t/y, producing 5 000 t/y to 8 000 t/y of graphite concentrate.

Stage 2 would see the expansion to a large-scale operation, as planned in the 2017 definitive feasibility study, with processing targeted at one-million tonnes a year for the production of up to 60 000 t/y of graphite concentrate.

Triton is hoping to be in production at Ancuabe by the September quarter of next year.