Page 56 - pd296-August21-mag-web

AFRIcA DoWn UnDeR PReVIeW

Leaving a responsible footprint

in Madagascar

career-defining moment came in the
A form of tragedy for BlackEarth Min-
erals Ltd managing director Tom Revy
many years ago when working on a
South African project.
A lack of infrastructure in the local vil-
lage led to the unfortunate death of a
young school student and the experience
etched a strong and permanent moral
code in the Australian mining executive.
“For me that is the turning point,” Revy
told Paydirt. “Yes, it’s nice to build a pro-
ject that operates and produces a com-
modity, but you can really have a serious
impact on people’s lives.”
This wasn’t the first time he had felt
disheartened abroad. Years prior, Revy
saw locals in Guinea suffer in poor health
and he has since carried with him a per-
sonal desire to improve the surroundings
he works in.
Revy is now spearheading the Maniry
graphite project in Madagascar and has BlackEarth has furnished local classrooms in Maniry, Madagascar. Managing director
brought across his past experiences to Tom Revy (far right) is pictured here with social and community liaison officer Miravelo
provide a better life for locals. Rakotonanahary, country manager Jean Luc Marquetoux and the mayor of Maniry
BlackEarth has furnished local class-
rooms, donated four tonnes of food dur-
ing a famine, worked with Australian doc- “We’ve done it quickly, but responsibly.” growing very strong and is likely to con-
tors to upskill medical workers, trained BlackEarth is currently wrapping up a tinue doing so.
local employees and donated books for BFS and is preparing expandable graph- “[Our] capex is not extraordinarily high,
school children – all since its inception ite samples for distribution to end us- but we are a material producer at 30,000t
in 2016. ers. This coincides with the signing of a and the financial returns at those sort of
“To think that accident can happen in 2,500 tpa offtake and sales agreement levels is attractive.”
this day and age is unacceptable,” Revy with Austrian company Grafitbergbau Seeking the alternate route to the sup-
said, reflecting on the tragedy that cali- Kaiserberg GmbH valued at $US7.5 mil- ply chain is just one of the many ways
brated his moral compass. lion a year. Revy is looking to bring his different ap-
“I have been involved in many projects “Grafitbergbau is the finality of that proach to business, including taking ad-
all around the world. When done prop- whole supply chain,” Revy explained. vantage of Madagascar’s long and pro-
erly, they can make a long-term positive “Rather than initially going into the highly lific graphite exporting history.
impact. competitive lithium-ion battery chain, Looking back on his own history, Revy
“We don’t just meet ESG requirements which is higher capex and high competi- reflected on the social impacts he has
to tick a box. We’re committed to ensur- tion, we have decided to go into the low seen through 35 years in the industry
ing we do the right thing in Maniry.” capex, very high revenue, low competi- and his chance to provide for the better
Revy’s passion to ensure the execu- tion production of expandable graphite.” in Madagascar.
tion of social change sets him apart from Instead of competitively putting its foot “Like in any industry, you have the
others in an industry that has increasing- in the door of the growing EV market, good, the bad, and the ugly,” he said.
ly put the ESG talking points at the front BlackEarth is targeting graphite in the “We have always ensured since we
of company presentations. use of smaller electronics and the energy first started the company back in 2016,
BlackEarth continues to show the storage of wind and solar solutions. that everything we’ve done has always
same lack of hesitation in other aspects “The lithium-ion battery market is been done with the with the full foresight
of its work, as evident by the rapid pro- growing very strongly and EVs are an and responsibility of ensuring that local
gress at the project since the company’s important part of that, but [graphite is] so stakeholders in the places that we op-
listing on the ASX in 2018. much bigger than that,” Revy said. erate are not only looked after, but also
“One of the credits to us is that we’ve “In our case, the demand for things respected.”
been able to take the project from its first such as fire-retardant materials and
drill hole to feasibility, after listing only graphite foils used in electronic devices – Fraser Palamara
three and a bit years ago,” Revy said. such as mobile phones and laptops is

Page 56 aUgUST 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT