PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed graphite miner Syrah Resources has reported record graphite production and sales for fiscal 2022, with the company reporting revenue of $106 million, up from $29 million, generated in the previous financial year.
The company on Thursday announced record annual graphite sales of 162,000t at a weighted average price of $661/t for the year, despite its operations at Balama in Mozambique being disrupted at times in September and October by illegal industrial action by a small contingent of local employees and Contractor.
Syrah informed shareholders that unit costs at Balama trended higher throughout the year, with cost of sales increasing from $61.7 million to $92.9 million between fiscal 2021 and 2022 due to production constraints and operating cost pressures be. The cost of diesel for power generation and the cost of transporting inputs from outside Mozambique also increased significantly during the year.
The miner hit record sales in 2022, with strong customer demand for Balama products, but Syrah noted it could have produced and sold more product had it not been for container restrictions that impacted global shipping operations during the fiscal year.
The company said Thursday that with the easing of restrictions on container shipping and the integration of Pemba’s breakbulk shipping, Syrah expects there will be no logistical obstacle to Balama’s higher sales and production in 2023.
Meanwhile, the company pressed ahead with construction of its expanded Vidalia anode active material (AAM) facility in Louisiana, which would increase production to 11,250 tons per year after approving $85 million in spending in February last year had been.
The final feasibility study for the further expansion of the AAM plant to 45,000 t/a production capacity is about to be completed.
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