Ann: Lindi Jumbo gears up for first graphite concentrate export, page-749

A few weeks ago, the supposed problems included bottlenecks, now that things seem to be able to operate for longer periods with higher grade input but not being run at full speed, our resident Negative Nellie has switched to other parameters.

From watching tweets, reports and photos, I wonder if the current issue is in fact a bottleneck at the bagging and loading area, caused by ramp-up issues with the sampling and logistics contractors.

• Photos of loading trucks outside instead of in the loadout shed
• Photos of stacked product in the loadout area appearing to limit manoeuvre room for a forklift
• Every bag needs to be sampled and lab tested
• focus on improving lab test throughput
• Apparent construction to increase lab size (operated by contractor)
• Higher than original spec feed grade, so more graphite produced per tonne of ore

My current guess is that the plant can run fast for shorter periods, or slower for longer, until the queue for lab testing and loading fills the available storage space.

If the lab is partly a construction zone, the staff aren't comfortable and working as efficiently as they will when it's completed. They need to be confident that they know and can maintain forensic chain of control to be sure which bag was the source of which sample.

I'm still comfortable that the people doing the work know what they are doing. The tweets are providing a level of detail we can see which would be hidden from us if we only waited for the official releases like from most other companies.