Twigg Exploration & Mining

The Balama Graphite Operation is located in Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique, around 200 kilometres west of the port town of Pemba. It stands on one of the world’s largest known graphite deposits, currently estimated to hold:

• 1 billion tonnes of 12% TGC graphite mineral resources
• 110 million tonnes of 16% TGC graphite ore reserves that can be economically mined

Operations consist of a low-strip, open-pit mine whose ore is fed to a processing plant adjacent to the extraction site for crushing, grinding, flotation, filtration and drying. At full capacity, the processing plant has a throughput of around 2 million tpy, yielding about 350,000 tpy of graphite. At these production rates, the estimated life of the mine is calculated to be more than 40 years. 

Power is supplied by a 15.4-MW on-site diesel station comprising seven 2.2-MW generators, and by a 11.25-MW solar photovoltaic array combined with a 8.5-MW/MWh battery energy storage system and automated power management system.

Balama produces 23 natural graphite products ranging from coarse to fines flakes, with carbon content between 94% and 98%. The facilities are also equipped to produce flakes of other specifications for special purposes. 

Product is packed into one-tonne bags and transported for export to the ports of Pemba, for break-bulk shipments, or Nacala, for shipment in 20-foot containers. Nacala port, some 490 kilometres southeast of the operation, has twin container berths and four berths for bulk traffic.

Balama graphite is supplied to the battery anode market in Asia and to industrial customers globally.