The CEO of Australian mining company Syrah Resources, Shaun Verner, revealed that the company expects to resume production at its Balama graphite project in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, during the first quarter of this year, Mining.Com reported on Wednesday (5).
Speaking on the sidelines of the Africa Mining Indaba 2025, an event dedicated to promoting the successful capitalisation and development of mining interests in Africa, which has been taking place since Monday (3), he said that this decision will eventually allow the declaration of ‘force majeure’, announced in December last year, to come to an end.
Verner recalled that the ‘force majeure’ was declared due to the disruption caused by the protests, exacerbated by the civil unrest that followed the results of the October elections, which also led the company to default on its loans guaranteed by the United States of America (USA).
‘Stability in the country is improving significantly. The last two or three weeks have certainly been much better than the previous period,’ he commented. ‘We are working to resolve the conflict we have on site, so that we can get back to production during this quarter,’ he added.
In January this year, the mining company made it known that it had obtained a waiver of events of default related to its 150 million dollar loan from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The move gives the company relief from operational disruptions at its graphite mine caused by the ongoing protests in the country.
In 2024, Syrah Resources announced that in the first half of the year it made a loss of 67.1 million Australian dollars (44.7 million US dollars). According to the company, revenues fell 33 per cent to 19 million Australian dollars (12.6 million US dollars), due to a reduction in graphite production and sales as a result of oversupply in China.
‘ Graphite is a carbon-based material used in batteries and is a vital component in electric vehicles. China accounts for more than 70 per cent of the global supply of natural, mined graphite and the synthetic variety, made from petroleum coke or coal tar,’ the company explained.
