Modern Mining January 2021

MINING News

Expected growth for natural graphite production in 2021

After increasing in 2018 and 2019, global natural graphite production was adversely affected by COVID-19 in 2020, with mines being placed either under care and main- tenance or temporary suspension due to lockdowns and restrictions. While output declined by 15,4% to 952,6 kt in 2020, it is expected that natural graphite production will increase by 7,6% in 2021 to 1 025,5 kt and grow to 1 206,6 kt by 2024 at a 5,6% CAGR, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company. China is the world’s largest producer, with expected output of 665 kt of natural

to restrictions and lower EV demand, with no production at all since April 2020. The project is well positioned to commence operations once the market conditions improve.” Similarly, production from Brazil is expected to decline by 4,1% due to lock- downs and restrictions, which became prevalent during the second and third quar- ters of 2020. Bajaj continues: “Natural graphite pro- duction is expected to reach 1 206,6 kt by 2024 – a 5,6% CAGR. This will be supported by growing demand from the electric vehicle battery segment, where graphite is a key component. As well as the restart of the Balama Graphite project, projects most likely to commence opera- tions during the forecast period include Madagascar’s Molo graphite project (2021), Mozambique’s Montepuez and Tanzania’s Lindi Jumbo (2022). “These projects, together with the development of Syrah Resources’ Vidalia Battery Anode Material Project, which will make it the first vertically-integrated pro- ducer of natural graphite active anode material outside China, will assist in reduc- ing China’s dominance in the sector and providing alternative sources for battery makers across the globe.”  BlueRock executive chairman, Mike Houston, says: “During the course of the expansion project at Kareevlei the BlueRock management team decided to upgrade certain elements of the plant to ensure optimum production levels going forward. While this has slowed the expan- sion project down slightly, we are pleased to say that the decision has had no impact on our internal target for output for Q1 2021 and on the earlier production guidance given for the full year of 2021. The company continues to advance its expansion strategy at Kareevlei, designed to increase the mine’s volumes to 1-million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and extend the life of mine. Further work will be under- taken in 2021 to prove the continuation at depth of the KV2 section of the main pit and to establish the true size of KV3, which is expected to increase the resource and the life of mine further. 

graphite. This represents a decline of 5% versus 2019 due to COVID-19 restrictions, mainly during the first quarter of 2020 when several mines and plants had to tem- porarily cease production activities. Vinneth Bajaj, senior mining analyst at GloblaData, comments: “While it was the second-largest producer in 2019, Mozambique’s graphite output is expected to fall from 100 kt to 20 kt, placing the country sixth overall out of world produc- tion. The reduction is due to the Balama Graphite project, operated by Australia’s Syrah Resources, being suspended due

Natural graphite production is expected to increase by 7,6% in 2021.

BlueRock Diamonds PLC, the AIM listed diamond producer, which owns and BlueRock Diamonds’ expansion project nearing completion operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa,

announces that its expan- sion project at the mine is nearing completion. At the time of writing, the crushing circuit was set to be completed by the end of 2020 and was due to be commissioned in early January 2021. The rest of the plant is expected to be installed in phases during Q1 2021 to ensure no disruption to operations. Guidance for Q1 2021 is to process 130 000 tonnes (t), 75% up on Q1 2020 of 74 000 t. Production guid- ance of between 850 000 and 1-million t for 2021 remains unchanged.

During the course of the expansion project at Kareevlei, the BlueRock management team decided to upgrade certain elements of the plant to ensure optimum production levels going forward.

4  MODERN MINING  January 2021