Modern Mining January 2018

MINING News

Battery Minerals reaches “major milestone”

it reflects the quality of the Montepuez product, it highlights the outstanding future of the project and it underpins the sale of a significant share of our forecast production. “With our A$20 million capital raising recently completed, engineering studies progressing rapidly and now binding sales agreements in place, we are firmly on track to start construction in the next quarter and be commissioning in December 2018. “We will also be working with Urbix to develop and market the products to sell into the US battery market. Ongoing market develop- ment will include optimising development of a spherical graphite for use as anode material in lithium-ion batteries as part of an international marketing strategy.” The Montepuez mine – which will have a life of plus 10 years – will initially pro- duce between 45 000 and 50 000 t/a of graphite flake concentrate, targeting an average flake concentrate grade of 96,7 % Total Graphitic Carbon (TGC). As Battery Minerals executes subsequent expansions, it expects production to grow to over 100 kt/a by 2022. The first shipment from the project is expected in the first quarter of 2019. The pre-production capex for the proj- ect is US$42,3 million. A further US$25 million to US$30 million will need to be invested for an additional 40 to 50 kt/a of production.  interpretation was successfully tested. This new interpretation greatly enhances our understanding of and model development at GSS and will form the basis of contin- ued drilling. This interpretation will also direct our regional exploration at Block 14 in 2018.” The Revised PEA of Block 14 (the results of which were released in May 2017), using a gold price of US$1 100/oz for mine design and US$1 200/oz for economic analysis, showed a project with in-pit min- eral resources of 41,0 Mt at 1,46 g/t for 1 928 koz in the indicated category and 3,4 Mt at 1,56  g/t for 173 koz in the inferred category and a mill throughput of 3,4 Mt/a. The PEA indicates that the project would have an average annual production of 135 koz/a over a LOM of just over 13 years. Orca is, however, examining mill through- put options up to 6 Mt/a. 

Transport route for the Montepuez project. A bulk sample fromMontepuez was delivered to Pemba in 2017, demonstrating – says Battery – that the 260-km logistics route is now proven.

ASX-listed Battery Minerals (Battery) says it has reached another major milestone in its strategy to become a global graphite supplier to the lithium battery industry, signing a binding sales agreement with a leading US-based graphite processor. The binding offtake agreement covers up to 11 000 tonnes of graphite concen- trate per year, equal to more than 20 % of the initial forecast annual output from Battery’s Montepuez project in northern Mozambique. The offtake agreement – for a three- year term starting in 2019 – is with Urbix Resources LLC, a privately-owned com-

pany based in Arizona. Urbix is reported to have extensive expertise in purification, downstream processing and marketing of graphite. In addition to the offtake agreement, Battery Minerals has also signed a binding Test-work Term Sheet and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering toll treatment and technology commercialisa- tion with Urbix. Battery’s Executive Chairman, David Flanagan, said the binding offtake agree- ment marked another key milestone along the path to project development and cash- flow. “This deal is pivotal for three reasons: 131 m at 1,73 g/t Au; and 82 m at 2,21 g/t Au. True widths are between 50 % and 70 % of intercept width. Significant results were also obtained in the Main Zone of the deposit including 48 m at 2,76 g/t in Hole GSDD042 and 50 m grading 2,75 g/t in GSDD047. These are expected to have a positive impact on the resource estimate. “The latest holes from Block 14 con- tinue to strongly support an expansion of the resource base,” comments Rick Clark, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Orca. “Results are with our consultants and a new resource estimate is expected shortly, which will form the basis of the Feasibility Study on track for completion in early Q2 2018. These new results are partic- ularly significant in that a new geological

Orca reports more good drill results from Block 14 Orca Gold Inc, listed on the TSX-V, has announced the remaining results from 2017 drilling at its Block 14 gold project in the north of Sudan. Sudan is reported to be the second biggest gold producer in Africa, with an estimated production in 2017 of just over 100 tons of gold, all of it from arti- sanal and small-scale producers.

To date, 12 449 m (34 holes) of diamond drilling and 2 500 m (12 holes) of reverse circulation drilling have been completed at Galat Sufar South (GSS) as part of an ongo- ing 25 000-m drilling campaign. Drilling tested a new geological interpretation in the East Zone drilling per- pendicular to earlier drill sections. These new holes were successful in intersecting good grade and continuity over significant widths, including: 162 m at 2,01 g/t Au;

12  MODERN MINING  January 2018