TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 1066V
Tirupati Graphite PLC
09 December 2021
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed
to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market
Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 which is part of UK law by
virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the
publication of this announcement, this information is considered to
be in the public domain.
9 December 2021
Tirupati Graphite plc
('Tirupati' or the 'Company')
Commercial Production Commences at Vatomina
Tirupati Graphite plc (TGR.L, TGRHF.OTCQX), the specialist
graphite and graphene company developing sustainable new age
materials, with operations which include primary graphite mining
and processing in Madagascar, and a specialty graphite, graphene
and advanced materials operation in India, is pleased to declare
the start of commercial production from its greenfield Vatomina
Project in Madagascar with effect from 6 December 2021. As such,
the Vatomina plant's commissioning process is complete, with the
facilities now stabilised to facilitate continuous, round-the-clock
operations.
Commercial Production - Vatomina
-- Vatomina Project, which was commissioned in September 2021,
has the capacity to produce 9,000 tonnes per annum ("tpa") of flake
graphite.
-- Since its commissioning, Vatomina has been debottlenecked and
its new facilities are now prepared for stable commercial
operations.
-- During the commissioning process, the plant has surpassed the
target operational objectives, including:
o A recovery rate of over 90%, against the targeted 85%;
o A target product grade of up to 96%;
o A product basket consisting of over 70% Jumbo and large
flakes, which sell at a premium to fine/small flakes;
-- The contracted and in pipe line sales remain robust to
achieve the sales target of 4,000 tons across the Sahamamy and
Vatomina projects (see RNS dated 2 December 2021 ) for second half
of the year ending 31 March 2022.
-- The commissioning process included extensive, best-in-class
operational training for workers recruited for the facility.
Further Expansion at Vatomina and Sahamamy
Following this announcement, the total primary flake graphite
production capacity at our upstream projects in Madagascar is now
12,000 tpa, and is expected to reach 30,000 tpa by the middle of
next year, before reaching 84,000 tpa by the end of 2024.
These plans include an additional 54,000 tpa of capacity planned
at Vatomina and the second 18,000 tpa module which is in
construction at Sahamamy and is scheduled for completion in Q2 next
year.
The project development plan at Vatomina provides for a further
three modules of 18,000 tpa each, totalling an additional 54,000
tpa of processing capacity to be added over the next three years.
Importantly, these future modules at Vatomina, as well as the
forthcoming 18,000 tpa module at Sahamamy, have been substantially
derisked. This is because the 18,000 tpa modules will use the same
flowsheet, design and equipment used in the 9,000 tpa module at
Vatomina which has now achieved commercial production - which was
itself scaled up from the existing 3,000 tpa module at Sahamamy. As
a result, for the next 18,000 tpa modules, there is no further
material design or equipment scale up required, meaning the
development and operating risks for the modules has been
significantly reduced.
Separately, the second 18,000 tpa module under construction at
Sahamamy is progressing according to plan with ongoing refinements
and improvements in planning being made using learnings from the
new plant at Vatomina. At Sahamamy, Tirupati plans to add a
pre-concentrate plant at the foothill of the mine itself, reducing
the amount of haulage required across the project - which will
reduce operating costs and emissions. The final concentrate
processing and flake graphite finishing operations shall be located
near the current 3,000 tpa facilities at Sahamamy.
Upstream Performance Outlook
As mentioned, total primary flake graphite production capacity
at Tirupati's upstream projects in Madagascar is now 12,000 tpa,
and is expected to reach 30,000 tpa by the middle of next year,
before reaching 84,000 tpa by the end of 2024.
Flake graphite production and sales are on track to exceed 4,000
tons in the second half of the current financial year, having
reached 1,060 tons in H1. This is expected to increase to around
20,000 tons for the year to March 2023 and continuing to rise from
then. The Company continues to expect strong and growing mid-term
and long-term demand for flake graphite due to its critical role in
the energy transition economy.
The Company enjoys low costs and high margins from its
operations in Madagascar and remains well positioned to continue to
improve on its operating margins as it captures economies of scale
benefits across its operations.
Additionally, the outlook will be substantially strengthened
upon the completion of our acquisition of Suni Resources in
Mozambique, which will provide the Company with two more advanced
stage projects that have the licensed capacity to produce 150,000
tpa of flake graphite.
Shishir Poddar, Executive Chairman of Tirupati Graphite,
said:
"We are delighted that Vatomina has successfully ramped-up to
commercial production so quickly and smoothly. The lessons we have
learnt from this project will be captured to enhance our other
ongoing and planned new capacity developments. The significant
production we are adding will transform Tirupati into a globally
significant supplier of primary flake graphite and speciality
graphite and enhance the Company's trading position going forward.
We look forward to updating the markets further as we
progress."
Enquiries:
Tirupati Graphite Plc admin@tirupatigraphite.co.uk
Puruvi Poddar - Chief of Corporate & Business +44 (0) 20 39849894
Development
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker)
Ben Maitland - Corporate Finance +44 (0) 20 3034 2707
Robert Emmet - Corporate Broking +44 (0) 20 3981 4173
FTI Consulting (Financial PR) +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Ben Brewerton / Ojasvi G oel / Alessandro tirupati@fticonsulting.com
Rubin / Kelly Smith
Notes
Tirupati Graphite Plc is the specialist graphite and graphene
company developing sustainable new age materials. With a unique set
of properties, graphite has diverse applications with multiple
growth streams and graphene forms the new generation of 2D and
advanced materials. The Company places a special emphasis on
"green" applications, including renewable energy and energy
efficiency, energy storage, thermal management, and advanced
materials development, 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, with an additional 9,000 tpa capacity
expected to be commissioned soon, 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 is developing a suite of
speciality graphite for use in hi-tech applications like
lithium-ion batteries, fire retardants, thermal management, and
composites. Its current operations include the 1,200 tpa Patalganga
Project, focused on manufacturing the Company's trademarked
expandable graphite products CARBOFLAMEX(R) and GrafEN 45545(TM).
TSG is further expanding the Patalganga Project to 4,800 tpa and
developing the 30,000 tpa specialty graphite project in two 15,000
tpa modules which will include capabilities to manufacture
high-purity, expandable, micronized and spherical graphite and
using its unique green processing technologies for the
manufacturing of these advanced materials.
TSG has also established and continues to develop the Tirupati
Graphene and Mintech Research Centre, a state-of-the-art R&D
centre focussed on manufacturing graphene, developing its
applications and advanced materials using graphene, and further
providing environmentally friendly technologies consultancy for
mineral processing.
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