9 October 2015 StratMin Global Resources Plc (“StratMin” or the...

9 October 2015
StratMin Global Resources Plc
(“StratMin” or the “Company”)
Successful First Month of Twenty-Four Hour Production
StratMin Global Resources Plc (AIM: STGR), London’s only listed graphite production and exploration
company, announces a successful test month of 24 hour production at the Loharano project, with
production volume meeting all targets.
Highlights
 In July 2015, following an agreement to collaborate with Tirupati and the deployment of their
technical team on site, the Loharano plant was taken through a refurbishment programme.
Following this, monthly production has steadily increased and, at the end of August, the plant
was bought into twenty-four hour production.
 Throughout September, the processing plant operated as planned for 24 hours a day, six days
a week, allowing for one day of planned maintenance.
 The drying plant operated non-stop for seven days a week.
 Feed and processing rates were maintained at low levels for the period with brief increases to
test various processes.
 Testing identified two immediate areas for improvement and further modifications to the
plant are underway to address these areas, including:
o Inefficient milling resulted in grade degradation, which we are now completing a mill
upgrade to resolve.
o Elevated moisture content in the graphite concentrate feed into the drying circuit
choked the throughput rate in the drier. The dewatering spinners were overloaded
and not removing enough water prior to the concentrate entering the drier.
Additional spinners are being shipped for immediate installation.
 Separately, improved grade control in mining showed immediate benefits, with head grade
(the grade of raw graphite ore entering the plant) improving from 5.6% to 7.2% graphite
content over the month.
 Production rates will be increased after the new equipment installation is completed and
tested.
 With the success of the testing period, the operation can now move to extended twenty-four
hour production, six days a week, and the team is being expanded to cater for permanent
rostering.
 Company production records for dried and bagged, flake graphite concentrate volumes, from
June 2015 are as follows:
o June: 64 tonnes
o July: 38 tonnes (with the plant out of production for refurbishment)
o August: 67 tonnes
o September: 255 tonnes (24 hour / six day a week production at limited feed rate)
 With another 64 tonnes of dried concentrate in stock ready for screening and
bagging
Brett Boynton, CEO, commented:
“We are pleased with the steady increases in production as we have systematically moved through an
ongoing optimisation process. Initiating twenty-four hour production has been a huge milestone for
the team and we are happy with the results so far, although we have identified areas where we need
immediate improvement. As always, it is safety first, and we are taking a measured approach to
pushing production up, so we see this as just another step and we still have a lot of work ahead of us.
“Every aspect of the operation has had to perform under increased pressure, but our very experienced
on-the-ground management team has worked through this latest phase and we are now confident
that Loharano can operate under extended processing hours.
“The partnership with Tirupati continues to help drive our technical program forward. Shishir and the
team have established a clear programme to achieve our 6,000 tonne per annum goal and are
methodically moving through it.
“Our current priority is to maximise the return on the existing investment and then translate that
capital efficiency into the expansion program. I look forward to updating the market with further
progress in due course.”
For further information please visit www.stratminglobal.com or contact: