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(Alliance News) - Tirupati Graphite PLC on Monday said that it has begun production at the newly built flake graphite facilities at its Sahamamy project in Madagascar.
Tirupati is a London and Mumbai-based specialist graphite and graphene producer with operations in Madagascar and India. Vatomina and Sahamamy are its two key mining sites.
The company told investors on Monday that it has started producing from the newly built facility, which has an estimated output of 18,000 tonnes per year.
This means that Tirupati has reached 30,000 tonnes per annum flake graphite capacity and is now progressing towards a steady state over 80% production in the near term.
It added that progress has been made in improving the average head grade at Vatomina by using the extension deposits of the currently operating pits.
"The outlook for global graphite demand is overwhelmingly positive. As a key component in EV batteries, the continued growth of the electric vehicle industry, with sales exceeding 10 million in 2022, will drive the demand and price of graphite for the foreseeable future," said Executive Chair Shishir Poddar.
"Security of supply is critical to the growth of the EV industry. While we will remain focussed on bringing our projects to name plate capacity production in the immediate term, we will continue to grow to the 84,000 [tonnes per year] production from our Madagascar projects and engage for furthering the development of the assets we are acquiring in Mozambique to seize opportunities the energy transition and green economy brings to us."
Tirupati shares were trading 7.4% higher at 33.55 pence each in London on Monday afternoon
By Holly Beveridge; Alliance News reporter
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