Stratmin Global Resources PLC Successful First Month of 24 Hour Production (8119B)
October 09 2015 - 6:19AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSTGR
RNS Number : 8119B
Stratmin Global Resources PLC
09 October 2015
9 October 2015
StratMin Global Resources Plc
("StratMin" or the "Company")
Successful First Month of Twenty-Four Hour Production
StratMin Global Resources Plc (AIM: STGR), London's only listed
graphite production and exploration company, announces a successful
test month of 24 hour production at the Loharano project, with
production volume meeting all targets.
Highlights
-- In July 2015, following an agreement to collaborate with
Tirupati and the deployment of their technical team on site, the
Loharano plant was taken through a refurbishment programme.
Following this, monthly production has steadily increased and, at
the end of August, the plant was bought into twenty-four hour
production.
-- Throughout September, the processing plant operated as
planned for 24 hours a day, six days a week, allowing for one day
of planned maintenance.
-- The drying plant operated non-stop for seven days a week.
-- Feed and processing rates were maintained at low levels for
the period with brief increases to test various processes.
-- Testing identified two immediate areas for improvement and
further modifications to the plant are underway to address these
areas, including:
o Inefficient milling resulted in grade degradation, which we
are now completing a mill upgrade to resolve.
o Elevated moisture content in the graphite concentrate feed
into the drying circuit choked the throughput rate in the drier.
The dewatering spinners were overloaded and not removing enough
water prior to the concentrate entering the drier. Additional
spinners are being shipped for immediate installation.
-- Separately, improved grade control in mining showed immediate
benefits, with head grade (the grade of raw graphite ore entering
the plant) improving from 5.6% to 7.2% graphite content over the
month.
-- Production rates will be increased after the new equipment
installation is completed and tested.
-- With the success of the testing period, the operation can now
move to extended twenty-four hour production, six days a week, and
the team is being expanded to cater for permanent rostering.
-- Company production records for dried and bagged, flake
graphite concentrate volumes, from June 2015 are as follows:
o June: 64 tonnes
o July: 38 tonnes (with the plant out of production for
refurbishment)
o August: 67 tonnes
o September: 255 tonnes (24 hour / six day a week production at
limited feed rate)
-- With another 64 tonnes of dried concentrate in stock ready
for screening and bagging
Brett Boynton, CEO, commented:
"We are pleased with the steady increases in production as we
have systematically moved through an ongoing optimisation process.
Initiating twenty-four hour production has been a huge milestone
for the team and we are happy with the results so far, although we
have identified areas where we need immediate improvement. As
always, it is safety first, and we are taking a measured approach
to pushing production up, so we see this as just another step and
we still have a lot of work ahead of us.
"Every aspect of the operation has had to perform under
increased pressure, but our very experienced on-the-ground
management team has worked through this latest phase and we are now
confident that Loharano can operate under extended processing
hours.
"The partnership with Tirupati continues to help drive our
technical program forward. Shishir and the team have established a
clear programme to achieve our 6,000 tonne per annum goal and are
methodically moving through it.
"Our current priority is to maximise the return on the existing
investment and then translate that capital efficiency into the
expansion program. I look forward to updating the market with
further progress in due course."
For further information please visit www.stratminglobal.com or
contact:
StratMin Global Resources Plc +44 (0) 20
Brett Boynton, CEO 3691 6160
Strand Hanson (Nominated & Financial
Adviser)
Rory Murphy / James Spinney / +44 (0) 20
Ritchie Balmer 7409 3494
Beaufort Securities (Broker) +44 (0) 20
Jon Belliss 7382 8300
Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 (0) 20
Camilla Horsfall/ Megan Ray 7138 3204
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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