Stratmin achieving target production rate 15:06 03 Aug 2015...

Stratmin achieving target production rate
15:06 03 Aug 2015

Following recent process changes and bottleneck clearing, up to 900kg per hour of refined graphite is being produced.

Stratmin achieving target production rate
The mine ore body at Loharano Stratmin Global (LON:STGR) has achieved it target production rate for graphite from a pilot plant at Loharano in Madagascar sending its shares rocketing higher.

Following recent process changes and bottleneck clearing, up to 900kg of refined graphite is being produced per hour while maintaining graphite purity levels, the company said.

Purity is key to the price Stratmin receives for its graphite as it has an offtake deal for all output at 94% carbon or above.

Operations this month will also be increased to 24 hours, six days a week, putting the plant on track for its initial target of 6,000 tonnes per year of processed flake graphite.

Further efficiencies are expected once the plant is in continuous production.

Brett Boynton, chief executive said: “Our strategy has been a considered and staged evolution and we couldn't be more pleased with the results over the last couple of months.

“We are now moving out of the pilot phase and into long-term commercial operations that will take the company into sustainable profitability.”

The final stage in the Loharano optimisation programme is to add production flexibility to enable the plant to produce tailor made flake graphite with grades of up to 96% purity the company said.

The optimisation has been conducted with new joint venture partner Tirupati. StratMin has issued it partner around 2mln at 5p a pop for the first instalment of £100,000 of technical services provided.

Stratmin added that exploration at Loharano and adjacent deposit Mahefadok was progressing well with topographical and ground geophysical surveys underway.

Bulk sampling at Mahefadok will be run in parallel to provide samples for in house-testing to establish the commercial prospect of the deposit.

The study is hoped to produce a bankable feasibility study for a 12,000 tonne a year high-grade flake graphite mine and processing plant.

Shares leapt 30% to 4.5p.