Australian Triton Minerals has agreed to sell its 70% interest in the Anacuabe graphite project in Mozambique for A$17M (US$11.5M) to a subsidiary of Chinese company, Shandong Yulong Gold, a bulk commodity trader.

Formal agreement is expected to be executed in September, followed by shareholder approval in October, and completion in January 2025. Triton will initially retain a 30% ownership in the Mozambique graphite assets and expects the sale proceeds to fund its contribution towards the proposed joint venture as well as provide working capital to look at other opportunities in Mozambique and Australia.  Shandong Yulong already has an interest in Triton Minerals, holding almost 36% of the voting power in the company alongside its associates. 

Triton is developing the Anacuabe project, which is the Cabo Delgado region of Northern Mozambique. The company completed a definitive feasibility study back in 2017 based on a 46Mt resource and has a large component of large flake graphite (59% at >180µm) and jumbo flake graphite (32% at >300µm). As well as the Anacuabe project, Triton’s graphite assets in Mozambique include leases on Nicanda Hill, Nicanda West and Cobra Plains graphite exploration targets.  

In 2022, a new management team completed a strategic review and revised the DFS on Anacuabe to a more cost-effective approach of processing 250ktpy to produce 17ktpy of concentrate. This reduced the capital expenditure to US$32-52M, alongside operating costs of US$711-750/t. Triton had already announced a binding off-take agreement of 10kt of concentrate with Yichang Xincheng Graphite, a major producer of expandable graphite as well as producing specialist and battery anodes. Yichang itself operated four graphite mines in China but is looking to supplement this supply with imported material.  

Cabo Delgado is already a graphite producing region with two operating graphite mines adjacent. The AMG GK mine is immediately adjacent to Ancuabe and Syrah Resources Balama mine is close by (150km west) which is the world’s largest graphite producing facility. This all adds to the fact that Mozambique is now the second largest graphite producer worldwide, and with continued development will consolidate its position in the future.