Epanko Graphite Project awaits massive increase in production

by Ina King (Potgieter)

Following a mining and processing schedule review at its 100%-owned Epanko Graphite Project, Kibaran Resources Limited has announced a two-stage production upgrade that will increase the mine’s graphite output from 40 000 tpa to 100 000 tpa in the next five years. The internally-funded expansion plan indicates an NPV of $251 million.

The Epanko Graphite Project, located within the Mahenge Graphite Province in Tanzania, is a rich deposit of premium quality large flake graphite, located mainly in the area’s Eastern and Western zones. The Epanko deposit has a total Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 22.7 Mt, grading 9.8% TGC, for 2.2 Mt of contained graphite.

The Epanko Graphite Project is one of 11 graphite projects in Africa – and one of 164 mining projects in Tanzania – listed on the Africa Mining IQ database. The project’s progress will be monitored on the Africa Mining IQ Intelligence Portal, where a team of dedicated researchers provide detailed information on the continent’s mining projects, updated daily. Subscribing to Africa Mining IQ’s e-mail alerts will keep users updated about new developments, proposed and completed expansions and production expectations on the site.

Kibaran’s Chairman, Mr John Park, commented that while the company has always considered its graphite to be amongst the best quality in the world, “the Epanko project can now be considered competitive in terms of scale. We are poised and ready to react to future demand increases and have the ability to act quickly, given our lean structure and in-house expertise.”

Although from a technical perspective it was possible to commence a production rate of 100 000 tpa, Kibaran believes a two-stage production upgrade across a five-year period to be the most practical and judicious strategy, which will favourably position the company in terms of response to future increases in demand.

In addition to the Epanko deposit, Kibaran also holds the mining rights to the Merelani-Arusha Graphite Project, in north-eastern Tanzania. Considered to be highly prospective for commercial graphite, Africa Mining IQ will continue to provide detailed project tracking of this resource.

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