Syrah Resources Limited has issued an update to the Balama Graphite Operation Ore Reserve estimate and the Balama Mineral Resource estimate.
According to Syrah, the updates reinforce the mine’s position as a high-grade natural graphite deposit.
In its update, the company said Balama’s ore reserve is estimated at 110.3 Mt at 16.4 per cent total graphitic carbon (TGC) for 18 Mt contained graphite, while mineral resource estimates totalled 1,035.7 Mt at 11.6 per cent TGC for 120 Mt contained graphite.
Syrah added that the updated ore reserve estimates support a 50-year mine life based on Balama’s current 2 Mtpa process plant capacity with a life of mine average strip ratio of 0.5 and 19 per cent TGC ore grade processed to 2047.
The updated mineral resources estimates are based on an updated pit shell approach and a revised TGC cut-off grade demonstrating Reasonable Prospects for Eventual Economic Extraction (RPEEE) using reasonable economic and technical assumptions.
Components of the Balama Mineral Resource have been re-estimated using new data and stockpiles, which are included in the latest update.
Snowden Optiro completed the 2022 Balama Ore Reserve and Mineral Resource updates.
Balama currently has three deposits, namely Ativa, Mualia and Mepiche.
The Mepiche deposit, formerly known as Balama East, consists of a main zone of generally moderate TGC grades flanked to the south by a comparatively narrow zone of TGC grades.
Mualia, formerly part of Balama West with Ativa, has domains that are truncated to the east by an interpreted fault and extend over 800 m of strike and dip at around 45 degrees to the north, with an average thickness of around 170 m.
The Ativa deposit was completely remodelled to better reflect new updates to geological units, namely the grouping of XGS2 and XGS3 based on similar geological and mineralogical behaviour.
The updated geological units at Ativa reflect the metamorphic layered sequence of units, characterised by different mineralogy, graphite and sulphide mineral contents, and graphite flake size.
