Canada-based SRG Mining has announced positive feasibility study (FS) results at the Lola graphite project located in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa.
The FS, which was officially started in September last year, was conducted by DRA/Met-Chem, a division of DRA Americas.
The feasibility study reveals that the mine has the potential to produce an average annual production of 54,600t of graphite flakes over its 29-year life.
At an average sale price of $1,321/t, the production represents $72.2m in annual revenue incurred from average operating costs of $508/t representing $27.7m annually.
The feasibility study also reports proven and probable reserves of 42.0Mt grading 4.17% graphitic carbon (Cg).
The capital costs of the project are over $123m which include a power plant of $5.8m, concentrate transport equipment of $3.6m, and $12m in contingency.
Average operational costs are valued at $470/t and $38/t of transport.
For the first 16 years of production, the average operational costs of the graphite mine are expected to be $447/t.
SRG president and chief operating officer Ugo Landry-Tolszczuk said: “These results are the culmination of many months of studies to de-risk the project and add to its robustness.
“The economic highlights present a highly profitable business using reasonable estimates for graphite selling price. Basic engineering will focus on improvements in the front-end of the plant, tailings management, and reducing the mining footprint.”
The Lola deposit is located approximately 1,000km South-East of Conakry in the Republic of Guinea.
The graphite mineralisation is well exposed at surface over a strike length of 8.7km at an average of 370m wide.
