Walkabout Resources has started commissioning its Lindi Jumbo mine in Tanzania, aiming to be the country’s first graphite producer.

Walkabout announced the commencement of its Lindi Jumbo plant in January 2024, which involves trial processing of its 19kt stockpiled graphite ore (3.4kt contained graphite). The mine has a nameplate capacity to treat 250ktpy graphite ore and produce 40ktpy large-flake natural graphite concentrate.

Yantai Jinpeng Mining Machinery, a Chinese company, is responsible for processing operations undertaken on a four-part circuit schedule. According to the Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract the plant will only be considered fully commissioned once it runs at full capacity for 48 hours. Additionally, Walkabout entered into a binding offtake agreement in July 2022 with Wogen Pacific, to supply the full 40kt of its graphite concentrate for an initial 5-year term, which is renewable.

Once fully operational Walkabout’s Lindi Jumbo mine will be Tanzania’s first graphite producer, joining the ranks of other African countries that produce natural graphite, such as Mozambique, Madagascar, and Namibia. Several other graphite mine projects are currently being developed by Australia-based companies including Magnis Resources, Volt Resources, EcoGraf, and Evolution Energy Minerals. At Project Blue, we expect that Tanzania could become a significant producer within the natural graphite supply chain and in our base case could account for 26% of new projects entering the market by 2030.

Source: Project Blue