TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 4067R
Tirupati Graphite PLC
08 March 2021
8 March 2021
Tirupati Graphite plc ('Tirupati' or the 'Company')
Commenced Renewable Energy Initiative & Update on Madagascar
Operations
Tirupati Graphite plc, the fully integrated, revenue generative,
specialist graphite producer and graphene developer with operations
in Madagascar and India, is pleased to announce an update on
significant developments at its primary flake graphite projects in
Madagascar, Sahamamy and Vatomina, including the redevelopment of
hydropower facilities at Sahamamy and initiation of further studies
for hydropower across both projects as part of its sustainable
mining strategy targeting low emissions and waste generation.
Overview
-- Advancing hydropower strategy targeted to meet 100% of the
power requirements for the Madagascan projects:
o Developing initial 100Kw hydropower facility at Sahamamy
resulting in an estimated ongoing saving of c.10% in the operating
cost per tonne of output and a c.50% reduction in carbon
emissions.
o Accelerating further studies and detailed planning on the back
of the earlier conducted prefeasibility studies for additional
c.900Kw hydropower capacity prospects to provide 100% renewable
power generation for the next two production modules.
-- Improved monthly sales indicate Sahamamy operations are
moving out of the impacts of the pandemic:
o Average monthly sales for the first two months of 2021
improved 63% at an average price of US$855 per metric tonnes ('MT')
from the average for the nine-month period from 1 April 2020 to 31
December 2020 at an average price of US$776 per MT.
-- Advancing various work streams to increase primary flake
graphite capacity in Madagascar to 12,000 tonnes per annum ('tpa')
during Q2 2021:
o On track to commission enhanced 9,000 tpa Vatomina operations
in Q2 2021.
o Progressing construction of the new road connecting Vatomina
and Sahamamy.
Shishir Poddar, CEO of Tirupati Graphite, said, "Increasingly,
consumers and manufacturers alike realise that zero carbon at use
is just part of the story and that there is a need to look
holistically at the processes along the whole supply chain.
Accordingly, as highlighted by the strong demand for our primary
flake graphite, there is significant preference for the lowest
impact deposits around the world. With this in mind, we remain
focused on delivering eco-friendly operations, and being a green
source in the supply chain for EVs and other green applications.
Our hydropower renewable energy initiatives are part of this
strategy, which will help us reduce our carbon footprint by almost
50% and also result in cost savings.
"Additionally, given the strong demand for our product, we are
excited to have accelerated the development of our primary flake
graphite operations in Madagascar to an initial 12,000 tpa in Q2
2021. We are on track to commission the 9,000 tpa plant in Vatomina
which will enable us to fast-track the development of markets for
our three business units in this opportune time of strong and
growing demand for our products, besides enhancing our significance
in the global ex-China graphite markets.
"Having already demonstrated >50% operating margins in the
first year of our initial 3,000 tpa facility at Sahamamy and made
progress despite the impacts of the pandemic including continuing
travel restrictions and logistics challenges, we look forward to
continuing to enhance shareholder value at industry low capital and
operating costs."
Further Information
The Company, which holds a Green Economy Mark accreditation from
the London Stock Exchange, continues to make significant progress
across its operations including its primary mining and processing
projects in Madagascar, Sahamamy and Vatomina.
In line with its sustainable mining strategy, the Company has
commenced the redeveloped of a hydropower plant at Sahamamy that
was last operated in 2005. Following further assessments of the
plant during the current quarter, the redeveloped plant, expected
to complete by end Q4 2021, is anticipated to meet Sahamamy's
current power consumption of c.100Kw resulting in an estimated
ongoing saving of c.10% in the operating cost per ton of output.
The Company is also accelerating further studies and detailed
planning on the back of the earlier conducted prefeasibility
studies for additional c.900Kw hydropower capacity prospects to
supply 100% renewable energy generated power to the next two
modules as well.
Notably, the Company has seen improved monthly sales, which
indicate that the Sahamamy operations are moving out of the impacts
of the pandemic. The average monthly sales for January and February
2021 improved 63% at an average price of US$855 per MT from the
average of nine-month period from April 2020 to December 2020 at an
average price of US$776 per MT.
To take advantage of the strong demand for its products, the
Company continues to advance its strategy to increase its
production capacity of high-quality flake graphite concentrate with
up to 96% purity to 84,000 tpa by 2024 from the current 3,000 tpa
produced at Sahamamy and sold to customers globally. In line with
this, the Company is on track to commission Vatomina in Q2 2021 and
build its production to 9,000 tpa having commenced the final phase
of construction for the first module; this will take the capacity
across both projects to 12,000 tpa.
The various workstreams initiated in Madagascar across the
projects (see RNS released dated 4 January 2021) continue to
progress:
-- Construction activities for the upgraded 9,000 tpa Vatomina
processing plant and development of related infrastructure in
Vatomina continue. The new mining fleet, processing plant and
utility equipment and materials shipped for the project, started
arriving at the project site from February 2020.
-- Acquired additional land surface rights for the mineralised
and other operational use areas bringing the total to c.120
hectares from c.37.5 hectares in the current quarter, with the
balance c.36 hectares of the current target in the process of
completion.
-- Hiring of both local and expat additional human resources
with support for grant of work Visa's by the Government of
Madagascar continues meeting all human resource requirements.
-- Construction of the new road connecting the Vatomina and
Sahamamy projects is progressing with first four-wheel vehicular
movement expected to start by end of March 2021.
-- As announced on 18 February 2021 with engagement of SRK
Consulting, the next phase of exploration activities to upgrade and
expand the existing mineral resource inventory across both projects
have begun.
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.
**S **
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. Land acquisition is in progress
in Bhubaneswar, India, and a detailed feasibility study
completed.
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