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BlackEarth rounds up Maniry BFS

head of completing a BFS on the related to geopolitics, product sizing, quali- simple and well proven metallurgy, with
AManiry graphite project in Madagas- fication periods and basic project econom- even the mid-sized material “far exceed-
car in 2021, BlackEarth Minerals NL has ics will not see the multitude of new pro- ing” normal coarse flake expandable re-
boosted its capacity with the appointment jects coming online as first expected.” sults to the surprise of end-users in both
of David Round to the board as finance di- Australian companies rushed towards Asia and Europe.
rector. graphite projects five years ago as the “The board remains confident in its pur-
In a sector the investment market still role of graphite as an anode in lithium- suit to produce higher end downstream
hasn’t fully grasped, according to Black- ion batteries became better understood, products for the market both in the short
Earth managing director Tom Revy, however, the complexity of developing and and long term with enough [demand] for
Round’s inclusion at BlackEarth is timely financing such projects has seen market a staple supply of various graphite related
as off-take discussions continue and pro- attention drop-off. products,” Revy said.
ject development scenarios for Maniry can While there is more known about the – Mark Andrews
start to be envisioned. graphite sector today, explaining graphite
Round’s previous experience as chief market dynamics to the investors was still
financial officer and head of sales with a a challenge, Revy said.
fellow ASX-listed graphite player in Mada- “Many potential developers have moved
gascar – Bass Metals Ltd – means Black- onto new projects already. Pricing is not
Earth now has a wealth of graphite smarts standardised, there is no general graph-
to tap into. ite price and the different lines of graphite
“Market knowledge and networks are product vary in price and often have no di-
the key to maximising revenue. It is a criti- rect correlation to each other,” Revy said.
cal commodity for a reason and the EU “From a client perspective, our key differ-
statistics from a consumer’s perspective is entiator is not only the quantum and quality
that achieving resource security requires of material being produced but the fact that
action to diversify supply,” Revy said. we have had positive test work completed
“A lot of market commentary tends to be by independent laboratories and all three
incorrectly calculated and/or one dimen- key product lines deemed qualified by Tier
sional in its view. The market is dynamic 1 end-users.”
with competing interest for the same prod- Revy said graphite material from Maniry
uct. The assumptions for near-term sta- had always exceeded end-user minimum
tistics are fundamentally flawed, issues requirements through the application of
Tom Revy
Borshoff thinks deep

aving lost his notes, John Borshoff as ever to the sector and is keenly work- The PFS on Tumas 3 was expected in
Hhad to wing his presentation at Africa ing away on the 36.8 mlb uranium @ 328 November/December and while enhanc-
Down Under. ppm Tumas 3 yellowcake project PFS in ing its Namibian-based projects is a key
However, such an avid believer in the Namibia. focus, capitalising on consolidation oppor-
uranium sector is the Deep Yellow Ltd Highlights from a previously completed tunities in the sector is also a priority.
managing director that his presentation scoping study on the 20-year Tumas 3 pro- “We think we might get something done
lines are well-rehearsed and his delivery ject included opex of about $US30/lb for a late this year,” Borshoff said.
always on point. 2.5-3 mlbpa operation with an IRR of 25% He added that “it was the beginnings
On this occasion at Africa Down Under, with 50% debt on a capex of $US100 mil- of a uranium boom” and believed it was
Borshoff took the opportunity to weigh in lion designed on a 1 mpta plant. the right time for the Deep Yellow team –
on the global energy debate. majority of which are formerly of Paladin
“In a world that is taking its issue with Energy Ltd stock – to be proactive in the
global warming and in a world that tries space.
to aspire to zero emissions and a world “It is an outstanding team and the only
that is oversold on renewables; we need one that delivered in the pre-Fukushima
something to partner that so you can have period and got new operations going and
energy stably, consistently and on a sus- we are well funded,” Borshoff said.
tainable basis,” Borshoff said. “The building blocks for that strategy is
“And the world is starting to realise that around the cohesive team that has oper-
with fossil fuels disappearing, they will ated together and the markets believe this
start going down from 2050.” group can deliver product on a sustainable
Borshoff has a long-held belief that ura- basis. We have that proven track record,
nium can suitably be used as an energy we have the vision, leadership, strategy
source, however, incidents such as Cher- and funding support.”
nobyl and Fukushima have stifled any trust – Mark Andrews
the industry has built within society.
Nevertheless, Borshoff is as committed John Borshoff

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