Roskill reports that Australian company Syrah Resources produced the first saleable flake concentrate at its Balama project in Mozambique last week. It has prioritised initial production of coarse flake and achieved grades in excess of 95% C. “Commissioning and process plant optimisation are underway as Syrah Resources now works towards commercial scale production. In a recent company announcement, it suggested that construction at the project was ‘essentially complete’ with the remaining activities to include ‘electrical and instrumentation work’.

“The company plans to produce 160,000 to 180,000 t of graphite in 2018. This could increase to a possible 250-300,000 t/y in 2019 from a nameplate plant capacity of 350,000 t/y. It aims to become the world’s largest producer of graphite from next year and grow to account for around 40% of global production by 2020.