Australian mining company Syrah Resources has completed in the United States the installation of a new industrial testing facility for processing graphite mined from Mozambique, the firm announced.
“This achievement increasingly positions Syrah as the most advanced option outside of China for vertically integrated supply of natural graphite to battery manufacturers in the US and Europe,” noted company CEO Shaun Verner.
The announcement was made in a statement distributed Monday, after the furnace was installed to process the ore that is being supplied to potential customers on a trial basis and to obtain certifications.
A final investment decision to set up a definitive plant in Vidalia, in the United States, should be made in the second half of this year, with an expected production of 10,000 tons per year, fed by the Balama mine in northern Mozambique.
The mine resumed graphite production this month, ahead of schedule, after being shut down for a year because of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, with travel restrictions limiting workers’ mobility, and also due to falling demand.
“Syrah will progressively increase the utilization of the plant and production volumes, along with the full reintegration of the workforce,” he announced.
The Balama mine started commercial production four years ago and employs about 650 workers, almost all of them Mozambican.
China is the major market and, at the end of 2019, the graphite also began supplying the unit being set up in the USA.
