Tirupati welcomes Balama Central mining licence after share buyout deal inked with Battery Minerals

10th November 2021 By: Donna Slater - Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

Specialist graphite producer and graphene and advanced materials developer Tirupati Graphite has welcomed ASX-listed Battery Minerals’ announcement that it has been granted a mining licence for the Balama Central graphite project.

Tirupati is acquiring shares in a company that owns the Balama Central project and that is undertaking an advanced feasibility study on the project.

Tirupati in August entered into an agreement with Battery Minerals to acquire the entire issued share capital of Suni Resources, which holds the Montepuez graphite project and the Balama Central graphite project.

The Balama Central graphite project is set to produce 50 000 t/y of graphite concentrate.
 
Tirupati CEO Shishir Poddar says the granting of the mining licence for the Balama Central graphite project further enhances the value proposition of the acquisition for Tirupati.

“Both the Montepuez and Balama Central projects now hold granted mining licences which, on completion of the acquisition, advances Tirupati on its journey to becoming a material supplier to the high-growth electric vehicle and battery markets and playing a part in the global energy transition.

“We also take this news as a positive indicator that Mozambique is starting to open back up for business following the pandemic, along with the rest of the world,” he says. 

Battery Minerals chairperson David Flanagan says the development is another important milestone for the Balama Central graphite project for production of graphite concentrate. “We look forward to completing our sale agreement for our Mozambican graphite assets with Tirupati Graphite . . . in the coming months.”