Jan. 14, 2019 - ASX-listed Syrah Resources has declared commercial graphite production at the Balama graphite operation in Mozambique.

This follows first production of unpurified spherical graphite at its Battery Anode Material (BAM) facility in Louisiana, USA using Balama natural graphite at the end of 2018.

Following a review of monthly operating metrics, the board of Syrah Resources has determined that the criteria to achieve commercial production, as set out in the company’s 2017 annual report, have been met with effect from 1 January 2019.

In Q4 2018, Syrah Resources recorded natural graphite production of 33,000 t, and full year 2018 natural graphite production 104,000 t, in line with updated guidance.

Moreover, the company also achieved average graphite recovery of 70% in Q4 2018 versus Q3 average graphite recovery of 53%.

“The declaration of commercial production represents a key milestone for Syrah, reflecting the significantly improved production consistency and strong recovery improvements, says Syrah Resources MD and CEO Shaun Verner.

“This milestone has been reached through coordinated effort across the entire Syrah team, particularly through the dedication of the Balama operations team. We continue to implement further operational improvements in ongoing ramp up, to bring recoveries in line with our medium and longer term targets,” he adds.

Syrah Resources also announced that it will provide further details of Q4 2018 performance in its quarterly activities report to be released on 30 January 2019.