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players","walkabout-resources-troubles-highlight-challenges-faced-by-ex-china-graphite-players","article/walkabout-resources-troubles-highlight-challenges-faced-by-ex-china-graphite-players",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":556,"content":566,"excerpt":676,"featured":51,"reporter":677,"_editable":681,"component":682,"seo_title":543,"categories":683,"visibility":690,"author_company":49,"featured_image":691,"seo_description":676,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":697,"formattedArticleDate":698},"98bdb7c5-1922-46ce-9a30-6b882c9a1aa9","2024-11-19 00:00",[550,553],{"slug":551,"name":552},"africa","Africa",{"slug":554,"name":555},"tanzania","Tanzania",[557],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":560},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":561,"image":562,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":563},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":567,"content":568},"doc",[569,576,581,586,593,598,603,608,613,618,623,638,643,656,661,666,671],{"type":570,"attrs":571,"content":572},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":575},"Graphite company Walkabout Resources has gone into administration following logistical and high cost issues around exporting its natural graphite from Tanzania.","text",{"type":570,"attrs":577,"content":578},{"textAlign":49},[579],{"text":580,"type":575},"The company operated the Lindi mine in Tanzania and announced it had shipped the first material from the asset in June of this year. ",{"type":570,"attrs":582,"content":583},{"textAlign":49},[584],{"text":585,"type":575},"“This highlights the challenges the ex-China graphite industry faces as diversification of global graphite supply away from China is underway. Logistics, finance and timely qualification are some of the concerns that need to be addressed before the ex-China supply chain becomes robust,” said Shruti Kashyap, product director at Benchmark.",{"type":587,"attrs":588,"content":590},"heading",{"level":589,"textAlign":49},4,[591],{"text":592,"type":575},"Why has Walkabout Resources gone into administration?",{"type":570,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":575},"Logistical issues exporting the material meant higher costs and inhibited cash flow for the graphite miner. To address these constraints, Walkabout negotiated with senior lender Gemcorp but was unable to make a $5 million investment into the Lindi project, forcing the company into administration. ",{"type":570,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":575},"Walkabout said the receivers and managers intend to operate the Lindi Jumbo mine and processing plant on a business-as-usual basis while reviewing operating and recapitalisation options.",{"type":570,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":575},"The issues Walkabout faced exporting its graphite from the Mtwara and Dar es Salaam ports may be a concern for other miners too. All projects planned for Tanzania – Lindi and Bunyu with the Mtwara port; Epanko, Chilalo and Mahenge with Dar es Salaam – rely on one of these two ports Walkabout attempted to export their material from.",{"type":587,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"level":589,"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":575},"What role does Tanzania play in international natural graphite production?",{"type":570,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":575},"“Tanzania is emerging as a promising destination for graphite production. The country accounts for only 4% of global flake graphite production with its share slated to increase to double in the next ten years as new projects come online,” said Kashyap.",{"type":570,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":575},"The Epanko mine, owned by a joint venture between EcoGraf and the government of Tanzania, is the next mine forecast to come online in the country, with production expected to begin in 2026. Tanzania has several other projects in various stages of development, placing forecast 2030 production at more than 280,000 tonnes of natural graphite.",{"type":570,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626,628,636],{"text":627,"type":575},"In September, Black Rock Mining, another Australian junior mining company, secured ",{"text":629,"type":575,"marks":630},"$179 million to develop its Mahenge graphite project",[631],{"type":632,"attrs":633},"link",{"href":634,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":635},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/","url",{"text":637,"type":575}," in Tanzania.",{"type":587,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"level":589,"textAlign":49},[641],{"text":642,"type":575},"Lobito Corridor extension could relieve port infrastructure strain",{"type":570,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"textAlign":49},[646,648,654],{"text":647,"type":575},"US investment to ",{"text":649,"type":575,"marks":650},"extend the Lobito Corridor Railway to Tanzania",[651],{"type":632,"attrs":652},{"href":653,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":635},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/us-proposal-for-trans-africa-corridor-targets-copper-and-cobalt-supply-chains?_branch_match_id=1544390747101373747&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXT0rNS87ITSzKzs3MSy1KzCnWSywo0MvJzMvW9%2FcwK3TyDo%2Bo8E%2ByrytKTUstKsrMS49PKsovL04tsnXOKMrPTQUAu7jLA0gAAAA%3D",{"text":655,"type":575}," would likely relieve some of the strain on port infrastructure by providing access to the Atlantic without having to ship material around South Africa.",{"type":570,"attrs":657,"content":658},{"textAlign":49},[659],{"text":660,"type":575},"The Lobito Corridor is a 1,300 km stretch of railway connecting the port of Lobito, on the Atlantic coast of Angola, with the city of Kolwezi in the DRC. Extending the railway to Tanzania would create a ‘Trans-Africa Corridor’ connecting the Central African Copperbelt to both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.",{"type":570,"attrs":662,"content":663},{"textAlign":49},[664],{"text":665,"type":575},"However, the re-election of Donald Trump brings into question whether investment from the US will materialise.",{"type":570,"attrs":667,"content":668},{"textAlign":49},[669],{"text":670,"type":575},"The region is regarded as geopolitically important outside the US as well. At the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation in September, China, Tanzania, and Zambia signed a memorandum of understanding to rehabilitate the Tazara railway – which spans Zambia and Tanzania – signalling China’s intent to develop an alternative to the western-backed Lobito Corridor.",{"type":570,"attrs":672,"content":673},{"textAlign":49},[674],{"text":675,"type":575},"At the summit, China’s President Xi Jinping pledged $51 billion for African infrastructure projects, with $1 billion designated for the modernisation of the Tazara railway.","Graphite company Walkabout Resources has gone into administration following logistical and high cost issues around exporting its natural graphite from Tanzania. The company operated the Lindi mine in Tanzania and announced it had shipped the first material from the asset in June of this year. “This highlights the challenges the ex-China graphite industry faces as […]",[678],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":679},{"job_title":561,"image":680,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},{"filename":563},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"98bdb7c5-1922-46ce-9a30-6b882c9a1aa9\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[684,687],{"slug":685,"name":686},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":688,"name":689},"graphite","Graphite","private",{"id":49,"alt":692,"name":693,"focus":693,"title":692,"source":693,"filename":694,"copyright":693,"fieldtype":695,"meta_data":696,"is_external_url":51},"Shipping containers at Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania","","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7b08c08301/bm-walkabout-resources-goes-into-administration-13283943fb58.jpg","asset",{"alt":692,"title":692,"source":693,"copyright":693},"Nov 19, 2024","19th November 2024",[],[],1780670058482]