Walkabout Resources ships first graphite concentrate from Lindi Jumbo in Tanzania
Graphite miner Walkabout Resources has produced and shipped the first consignment of on-specification graphite concentrate from the Lindi Jumbo graphite mine in Tanzania, it said June 7.
The concentrate, bagged in early May, is being shipped from Dar es Salaam for sale to commodity trader Wogen Pacific under an exclusive five-year sales, purchase and marketing agreement signed in July 2023, the company said in a statement, adding that the first sale was part of a larger order from an end-customer in Europe.
"We now have the opportunity to engage with more end-users as we continue to demonstrate we have a viable product and that we are serious contenders in development of non-Chinese graphite supply," Walkabout CEO Andrew Cunningham said.
The company said the relatively small shipment volume was due to limited plant availability and utilization during the commissioning and early ramp-up phase.
It had commissioned all sections of the plant, with the commissioning team focused on improving plant performance, availability and utilization with the aim of running the entire circuit on a more continuous basis, while steadily increasing throughput to reach the planned production volume of 40,000 mt/year, it said.
Once the throughput targets have been met, it will focus on the end-to-end optimization of processing circuits to consistently achieve customer product specifications, it said.
Currently, any product not meeting specification was reprocessed as determined by the Lindi Jumbo on-site laboratory, the company said.
Meanwhile, Walkabout said the mid-May US government announcement of the future imposition of a 25% tariff on Chinese natural graphite had added to market concerns over the security of supply chains after China imposed graphite export restrictions.
As a result, there appears to be a widening gap between Chinese domestic and ex-China graphite prices, it said, adding that it had experienced the effect of this in the sales orders received to date.
Demand for graphite is currently being driven by the lithium-ion battery market, it said.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed natural flake graphite at $420/mt FOB China June 6, down 2.3% since it was launched on March 18. The price reflects the spot value of natural flake graphite with 94%-95% carbon content and minus 100 mesh size delivered to Qingdao port.