Modern Mining January 2017

GRAPHITE

associated with the Balama project – which received its environmental licence in April 2015 after completion of a thorough EIA – but Syrah is nevertheless determined to run a ‘green’ operation. The operational ‘footprint’ has been minimised to avoid clearance of the indigenous forest which is the source of a large number of products which sustain local com- munities. Similarly, two large conservation areas of remnant vegetation on a chain of gra- nitic outcrops have been set aside to protect

rather than an impact crusher to maintain the integrity of the ore while reducing block size,” said Strange. “The process plant has been designed with sufficient flexibility to ensure market demand for different particle sizes can be met as markets with different product speci- fications require. The final graphite concentrate product will be classified into five particle size classes based on extensive consultation with global graphite end users.” The structural steel for the plant is being brought in from South Africa while equip- ment and major plant components are being sourced from a number of countries, among them Australia, China, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam. The power requirement for the project will be around 11 MW and this will be provided by an on-site power station. This is being supplied by South Africa-based Zest Energy, part of the Zest WEG Group, and should be operational in Q1 2017. Water for the mining and plant operations will be sourced from the Chipembe Dam, located 12 km from the Balama site, with this supply being supplemented by rainwater collection and pit dewatering, while water for the accommodation camp is provided by bore- holes. Syrah’s water licence allows up to 2 Mℓ/a to be drawn from Chipembe Dam, which will be connected to Balama by pipeline. There are no major environmental issues

The lined raw water pond (foreground) with reagent store and process water pond in the background.

Thickener installation with process water pond in the background.

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