New life for Aukam mine

Canadian-based Gratomic Inc. on Friday announced that commercial commissioning has begun at its Aukam graphite mine in Namibia to prepare the first 100 tonnes of product to send to customers for final inclusion into value-added applications.

"The past four months have seen ground crews working tirelessly to accomplish this momentous achievement," Gratomic said in a statement. It thanked all its employees and upper management for "the late nights and countless hours of overtime to meet the required deadlines three days ahead of schedule".

Gratomic is the sole owner of the Aukam graphite mine and processing plant, located 200 km east of the port of Lüderitz.

In a statement, Gratomic said Aukam’s primary focus in product development has been to become one of the first projects in the world to successfully introduce vein Graphite into anodes on a large scale. Vein graphite is found in veins and fissures in the enclosing ore rock.

Flagship

The company, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, OTCQX and Frankfurt stock exchanges, wants to become a leading global graphite supplier and aims to secure a strong position in the electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chain.

Aukam is Gratomic’s flagship project.

According to Gratomic’s latest financial results, the exploration and evaluation of the Aukam asset exceeded 6.7 million Canadian dollars for the year ended 31 December 2022. At the current exchange rate, that is around N$95 million.

Compared to Gratomic’s 2021 financial year, the asset’s value grew by nearly 28%.

Suitable

In Friday’s statement, Gartomic said the suitability of vein graphite and its degree of graphitisation as suitable for anode inclusion was verified through independent testing.

Over the next four to six months, Gratomic will be calibrating the Aukam processing plant on a scale large enough to meet exact end-user specifications, the company said. This programme is the final step before commencing full operation of the facility, it added.

Once the plant is wholly operational and optimised, Gratomic will focus on fine-tuning costs to ensure the best outcome for all parties involved, it said.

The cost optimisation phase will involve installing a solar power station on site to reduce the overall power cost and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) footprint, it added.

Last May, Gratomic announced the possibly largest graphite vein ever recorded at Aukam.

In September, Gratomic president and CEO Arno Brand said: "The first intercept of graphite came weeks ahead of expectation and brings forth a great deal of excitement as we steadily prepare to re-launch mining operations at Aukam for the first time in 46 years. Our recent financing secured our ability to complete our benching and initial mining programmes."

A month later, the first vein of graphite was extracted at Aukam.

Local value-add

In Friday’s statement, Gratomic said it supported the Namibian legislative change banning exports of unprocessed critical minerals. The statement said: "It is important for mining companies to maximise creating value within the borders of the country".

The company also thanked the Namibian government for "its endless support in providing the opportunity to transition successfully to this critical juncture".

It added: "You have proven to be a worthy ally in the investment community."

Brand described it as "truly unbelievable that we were able to transition to this enormous achievement for the company", adding that Gratomic suffered greatly under tough market conditions during the past 18 months.

"Nonetheless, we were determined to persevere without losing sight of our goal despite any challenges thrown at us. To the shareholders, your backing has given us the means necessary to achieve our objectives," he said.

According to Gratomic, global natural graphite pricing has been increasing significantly, with demand continuing to outstrip supply. This trend is expected to continue as the electric vehicle market experiences rapid growth, the company believes.

Pioneer

Gratomic Inc. was selected by the 2022 TSX Venture 50 programme as one of the top-10 performing mining stocks on the TSX Venture Exchange, ranking in third place.

The TSX Venture 50TM is an annual ranking of the top performers of the past year on the TSX Venture Exchange, the world's leading capital formation platform for early-stage growth companies.

According to Gratomic, the company "is becoming a pioneer in the mining industry by demonstrating that through innovation, determination and perseverance, mining companies such as itself can successfully transition to operation without the aid of debt, streaming, or royalty instruments that generally result in strenuous economics in the early days of mining".

Feasibilty study

Gratomic is working towards completing a feasibility study (FS) on the Aukam processing plant, it said on Friday.

"The study, its recommendations, and their subsequent implementation will provide conclusions and recommendations at a FS level of comfort about scaling up the existing processing plant to a commercial facility that can produce the desired concentrate grades and production rates," it said.

Gratomic emphasised that the supply of graphite is conditional on bringing the Aukam Project to production phase and for any graphite produced meeting certain technical and mineralisation requirements.