Aussie graphite deposit's potential elevated to Tier 1
Mining & Resources
A SCOPING study on one of Australia’s largest potential graphite projects has elevated it to a Tier-1 global contributor with a Net Present Value of AU$551m.
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Renascor Resources will now complete a prefeasibility study of its Siviour deposit by the end of the year, to fast track its development.
Situated about 240km northwest of South Australia’s capital Adelaide, Siviour is part of Renascor’s Arno project, which is expected to truck concentrate to Adelaide for export at a rate of about 120,000 tonnes over a 20-year mine life.
Addressing the opening today of the Paydirt 2017 South Australian Resources and Energy Investment Conference in Adelaide, Renascor Resources Managing Director, David Christensen, said the project was now clearly capable of weathering the storms in the global graphite cycles.
“The study points to a Net Present Value of AU$551 million, a payback of just 1.7 years and a cash cost per tonne of graphite concentrate of just AU$450 per tonne, among the lowest operating costs in the industry,” he said.
“This production cost is one of the lowest in the world, and our own drilling since project acquisition in 2015 has already quadrupled the inventory with substantial upside still available from undrilled areas.
“This combination of factors elevates Siviour into a globally significant future producer as the global supply chain is looking to diversify from reliance on mainstay producer, China, to high quality deliveries from low risk sovereign sources such as South Australia.”
Siviour has already produced super high-grade pure concentrates on metallurgical testing.
Christensen said that combined with the new scoping study results would help benchmark Siviour against its peers.
South Australia is home to more than 75 per cent of Australia’s JORC graphite resources, largely on Eyre Peninsula.
More than a million metric tons of graphite is mined globally each year according to Statista.
Graphite is a highly effective conductor of heat and electricity – it is also the strongest natural material in the world.
It is commonly used to manufacture lithium-ion batteries, steel, electric cars, carbon fibre cables, lead and grease.
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