Feature
Raw material produced at Sahamamy.
First of Sahamamy
plants see the light
Tirupati Graphite has commissioned a new
flake-graphite plant in Madagascar.
Edited by Leon Louw
L
ondon-headquartered Tirupati Graphite has commissioned
the 3 000 tonnes per annum (tpa) plant at the company’s
Sahamamy project in Madagascar. The Sahamamy plant will
be the first of six planned flake-graphite production plant modules
to be built in Madagascar. According to Shishir Poddar, managing
director at Tirupati, the second module of 18 000tpa is targeted to
start operating in quarter three of 2020.
Sahamamy produces high-quality flake-graphite at an 85% recovery
rate, which is one of the highest in the industry. Sahamamy holds
permits valid for 40 years and has a JORC resource of 13 million
tons, with additional resource potential of more than 15 million
tons. The operation is near the Port of Toamasina, with good roads
linking the mine site with the port.
Tirupati acquired Sahamamy in January 2018. The project has a
flake-graphite production target of 21 000tpa capacity with the
initial module of 3 000tpa and a second 18 000tpa production.
Development for the first module commenced early in quarter
three of 2018 with commissioning in February/March. Production
is now being ramped up and progressing to rated capacity output.
The second 18 000tpa module is planned for quarter three of 2020.
Product basket
The process has established a product basket of circa 60% jumbo,
30% large, and 10% small flakes with ± 5% variation. A recovery
30 AFRICAN MINING MAY - JUNE 2019
of over 85% graphite from the input raw material has been
achieved, one of the highest in the industry. The establishment
and commissioning of the plant have demonstrated the company’s
ability in various spheres, including:
• Sourcing importing commissioning and operating mining
equipment fleet and processing plant equipment in Madagascar.
• Constructing and commissioning flake-graphite processing
plant in a record less than seven months.
• Successfully establishing its lean process technology, which
provides further leverage and additional information for
establishing the follow-on modules.
• Its ability to manage in-country activities, including importing
over 15 containers of plant equipment, spares, and the like.
• Developing both expat and in-country human resources teams
for development and production activities.
With several strategic advantages, primarily the quality of
the flake-graphite, location and infrastructure connectivity,
technology, and expertise, Sahamamy is set for further
development to reach the 81 000tpa capacity planned by 2021.
According to Poddar, a marketing and supply chain has already
been established with product being sold into Europe, North
America, and Asia for conventional as well as new applications.
“Training of human resources has progressed to adapt to the
modern technologies used by the company,” says Poddar.
Community development
Poddar says the company employs 70 people directly at Sahamamy.
Furthermore, the company has furthered its community
development programme by extending support to the local
school — providing stationery and sports gear, organising football
matches, renovating the school building, and providing a facility
for fresh drinking water. “With all-round development of the
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