TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 2336O
Tirupati Graphite PLC
08 February 2021
8 February 2021
Tirupati Graphite plc ('Tirupati' or the 'Company')
Upscaling of Vatomina Project's capacity in response to
increased market demand
Tirupati Graphite plc, the fully integrated, revenue generative,
specialist graphite producer and graphene developer with operations
in Madagascar and India, is pleased to announce that in response to
continued increased demand for its high quality flake graphite from
Madagascar, the Company will upscale the capacity of the first
module at its Vatomina Project ('Vatomina') by 50% to a planned
production of 9,000 tonnes per annum ('tpa'), which will result in
an increase to near-term cash flows from operations.
Overview
-- Increased demand from current customers, including a London
listed FTSE 250 company recognised as a global benchmark flake
graphite user, and interest from new target buyers globally
highlight the strong graphite market dynamics
-- The Company's modular development approach using internal
expertise provides flexibility to enable the upscaling of Vatomina,
while remaining on track for the Project's planned commissioning in
Q2 2021
-- Upscaling Vatomina's first module by 50% from the planned
6,000tpa capacity to 9,000tpa, will be done at an estimated 30%
additional CAPEX, bringing the total production capacity in
Madagascar to 12,000tpa following commissioning
-- Upscaling Vatomina's capacity will see total earthwork at
Tirupati's projects increase to 800,000tpa from current
200,000tpa.
Shishir Poddar, CEO of Tirupati Graphite, said, "We are already
starting to see the fruits of our continued efforts to become a
significant supplier to the rapidly growing global flake graphite
market, which is being substantially driven by the growth in green
applications including electric vehicles, thermal management and
flame retardants.
"Flake graphite prices, and particularly in the larger flake
sizes, have seen an uplift over the past quarter and we have
received strong demand from our current and prospective buyers from
diverse market segments. Our team's persistent dedication to meet
our customers' expectations galvanised our decision to upscale the
capacity of the first production module at Vatomina to 9,000tpa,
which will take us to a significant total of 12,000tpa across our
two projects in the near-term, while remaining on track to
commission the new production module at Vatomina in Q2 2021. The
upscaled capacity will boost our near-term cash flow generation
which further enhances shareholder value at minimal costs."
Details
The Company remains focused on strengthening its primary mining
and processing in Madagascar, where it operates two projects,
Sahamamy and Vatomina. The existing 3,000tpa capacity, high-quality
flake graphite operation at Sahamamy has been producing and selling
to customers globally and remained operational throughout the
pandemic.
Madagascan flake graphite from the Company's projects offers a
favourable larger flake size distribution which is priced at a
considerable premium to smaller size flakes. With the first few
thousand tonnes having been produced and sold to key customers
globally, the Company has established itself in key consuming
markets for flake graphite.
Tirupati's modular development approach, coupled with its
internal expertise, provides the Company with flexibility to
respond to evolving graphite market conditions. The modular
approach contributed to the Company's strategic decision to
increase capacity of Vatomina's first module, which was already at
an advanced development stage, from 6,000tpa to 9,000tpa,
representing a 50% increase in installed production capacity will
be done at an estimated 30% increase in CAPEX. The increased
capacity is expected to boost near-term cash flow generation from
Vatomina, enabling the Company to capitalise on rising demand and
prices for its Madagascan primary flake graphite.
The additional installed capacity at Vatomina directly
contributes to an increase in the overall production capacity from
the Company's Madagascan primary flake graphite projects under its
modular medium-term development plan ('MTDP') from the originally
planned 81,000tpa to 84,000tpa by 2024.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014. Upon the publication of
this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be
in the public domain.
** ENDS **
For further information, please visit
https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/ or contact:
Tirupati Graphite Plc
Puruvi Poddar +44 (0) 20 3984 9894
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker)
Daniel Ingram +44 (0) 20 3137 1902
---------------------
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR)
Isabel de Salis / Cosima Akerman +44 (0) 20 236 1177
---------------------
Notes
Tirupati Graphite Plc is a revenue-generative, multi-asset,
multi-jurisdictional, fully integrated producer and developer of
high-grade natural flake graphite, speciality graphite and
graphene, which captures the entire value chain. With a unique set
of properties, graphite has diverse applications with multiple
growth streams and graphene forms the new generation of 2D
materials. In support of this, the Company places a special
emphasis on "green" applications, including renewable energy
generation, energy storage and composites, and is committed to
ensuring its operations are sustainable as well.
The Company's operations include primary mining and processing
in Madagascar, where the Company operates two key projects,
Sahamamy and Vatomina; 3,000 tpa of high-quality flake graphite
concentrate with up to 96% purity is currently being produced and
sold to customers globally, and this is planned to increase to
84,000 tpa by 2024 as per the Company's modular medium-term
development plan.
In India, through Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited
('TSG'), with whom the Company has a binding acquisition agreement
subject to regulatory approvals, Tirupati processes and produces
speciality graphite for use in hi-tech applications like
lithium-ion batteries, fire retardants and composites. Its
specialty graphite processing operations include the 1,200 tpa
Patalganga Project, which was commissioned in July 2019 to
manufacture and sell CARBOFLAMEX(R), a trademarked fire-retardant
expandable graphite product. At the next stage of development,
Patalganga shall further be expanded to 4,800 tpa capacity with
capabilities to also produce high purity and micronised graphite,
so increasing market and product reach by 2021. TSG has developed
unique green processing technologies for manufacturing these
advanced materials.
After establishing itself in the specialty graphite markets
through the Patalganga Project, an additional 24,000 tpa specialty
graphite processing facility is to be established in two 12,000 tpa
phases. The plant will produce expandable, high purity, micronised
and spherical graphite. The west coast of India has been chosen as
the location and a detailed feasibility study has been completed.
TSG is also in the process of establishing the Tirupati Graphene
and Mintech Research Centre, a state-of-the-art R&D centre
focussed on manufacturing graphene, developing its applications,
and further providing environmentally friendly technologies
consultancy for mineral processing.
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