PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Graphite developer Black Rock Mining has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with strategic alliance partner POSCO over the supply of high-quality natural large flake graphite concentrate from the Mahenge project, in Tanzania.
The MoU covers the potential offtake of 6 000 t/y of graphite concentrate from the planned Mahenge Module 1, with the two companies now starting negotiations on a binding offtake agreement, which is subject to product specifications and commercial terms.
“Expanding the strategic partnership with POSCO is a meaningful step as Black Rock advances the Mahenge graphite project towards production. Not only are we building a stronger offtake position with one of the world’s largest battery anode producers, but critically, this agreement represents an important de-risking milestone for our potential lenders as part of finalising our project debt for Mahenge,” said Black Rock CEO John de Vries.
A recent independent review of the front-end engineering design and an updated definitive feasibility study (eDFS) for the Mahenge graphite project has increased the project’s costs from the $116-million considered in the 2019 definitive feasibility study to $182-million.
The eDFS has increased the estimated Phase 1 production from 83 000 t/y of graphite to 89 000 t/y, with the mine life remaining unchanged at 26 years. Steady-state production has increased from an expected 340 000 t/y of graphite to 347 000 t/y, with the all-in sustaining cost now estimated at $518/t, up from the $494/t estimated in 2019, with throughput rates increasing from 1-million tonnes a year to 1.15-million tonnes a year.