Walkabout Resources' flagship Lindi Jumbo graphite project, in Tanzania
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Graphite project developer Walkabout Resources is planning to have its flagship Lindi Jumbo graphite project, in Tanzania, in production towards the end of 2020, following completion of a total funding package, which is expected to occur within the next quarter.
The funding package, CEO Trevor Benson tells Mining Weekly Online, will remain the company’s main focus for now, as it is the next milestone in the project’s development.
“We are working 24 hours a day, seven days a week on a funding solution and we hope that, in the next quarter, we can announce a debt package that will fund the development of the project through to production,” he says.
Up until now, the company has kept the preliminary construction work on the project going through equity funding, but Benson says Walkabout is considering funding the development of the project primarily from debt.
The 40 000 t/y project is expected to have a mine life of about 24 years, and will cost about $28-million to develop.
Once the project is in production, Walkabout expects a forecast basket price of about $1 500/t, based on the project’s definitive feasibility study, which the company believes reflects the market’s “exponential growth”.
Globally, the graphite demand/supply balance remains promising, Benson notes.
In terms of quality, Benson explains to Mining Weekly Online that the Lindi Jumbo project will be delivering a concentrate grade of between 95% and 98%, and in addition, expects 75% of its resource to be above 180 microns, making is suitable for expandable and foil markets.
The larger the flake, the higher the basket price it will attract, he says.
The remaining 25% of the resource, which falls below the 180-micron mark, makes it suitable for the battery- anode markets.