PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Triton Minerals has completed the strategic review and desktop study into its Ancuabe graphite project, in Mozambique, revealing on Thursday that it hopes to be in production by the September quarter of 2023.

The strategic review considered various alternatives to bring Ancuabe into production in the short term, with the desktop study demonstrating the project could be initially developed through 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 (DFS), with processing targeted at one-million tonnes a year for the production of up to 60 000 t/y of graphite concentrate.

Triton told shareholders that given the smaller scale of the Stage 1 operation, initial project funding requirements would be lower, providing the company with a range of funding options.

Triton is aiming to bring the CPP into production within 18 months, with the company telling shareholders that it would immediately start a scoping study.

“The Ancuabe staged development strategic plan, combined with the proposed use of a modular approach for the proposed commercial pilot plant, is critical as it will enable a shorter timeline to first production, with the flexibility to scale up to the large scale 60 000 t/y of concentrate production as envisaged in the DFS,” said Triton executive director Andrew Frazer.

“It is important now that Triton constructs the CPP in Mozambique as soon as possible so that we can commence production of large flake, high purity graphite for the quickly growing fire retardant and battery markets and importantly, realise value for our shareholders.”

Meanwhile, Triton noted that the desktop study also gave the company the chance to investigate value-adding opportunities through products and marketing, primarily for the lithium-ion battery and graphite foil applications, to build a vertically integrated business model to supply premium quality graphite products into a diverse range of markets.

“The development of value-adding strategy is designed to create investor value - the uplift in value for graphite from down-streaming processing and marketing is estimated to be in the order of 5 to 20 times,” said Frazer.