Tirupati Graphite’s Vatomina project, in Madagascar, produced about 388 t of flake graphite concentrate of various grades in March.
Production was below the planned monthly target owing to a combination of plant shutdowns and lower-than-expected ore grade.
To support mining of higher-grade ore, grade control and mine planning drilling was restarted in late March following the return to service of the company-owned drilling rig.
First results from this drilling campaign have demonstrated “encouraging” higher ore grades and indicate that daily production rates of about 25 t/d of flake graphite concentrate at the Vatomina plant should be achievable from two pre-concentration units (PCUs), the company highlights.
The third and fourth PCUs being transferred from the Sahamamay operation, also in Madagascar, to the Vatomina mine area will be installed during the month.
Production guidance of 1 000 t a month by July and 1 500 t a month by December remains unchanged.
Tirupati says that interest from customers across all product grades has been strong in the intervening period since the last update.
As at March 31, 220 t of legacy prepaid orders (received and paid for in 2024 under the previous leadership) remain outstanding to be produced, with production and incurred costs for these orders expected to be completed by mid-April.
From that point on, all sales will benefit current cashflows.
The audit of the overdue financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2024, has now resumed, following the need to rebuild the accounting system after the denial of access to IT systems by the previous CEO.
Meanwhile, Tirupati reports that subscriptions for its placing of zero-coupon convertible notes have surpassed £2.5-million.
The placing remains open for additional subscriptions until 17:00 on April 11.
To date, the company has received £1.56-million of the proceeds of the convertible loan notes offering, with the balance due by April 15.