PROJECT UPDATE: Syrah Receives Scoping Study for Balama West

Australia’s Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) has been busy this past month.

After releasing at the end of May the maiden inferred mineral resource for the Balama East deposit, located at its Mozambique-based Balama graphite-vanadium project, the company, which holds a diversified exploration portfolio in Southeast Africa, said on June 3 that it has made “substantial progress” on key infrastructure requirements at Balama.

Then, last week, it not only made board and management appointments, but also announced the receipt of a scoping study for the Balama West deposit. It was prepared by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants and provides a framework for future development at the deposit.

Syrah notes in its press release that though “significant mineralisation” has been identified at the deposit, the resource has been classified at an inferred level as a result of wide drill spacing. That means the deposit has not yet met “the technical and economic parameters required to imply economic viability.” To be considered economically viable, the company will have to “upgrade an appropriate portion of its Inferred Mineral resources to a higher level of confidence,” the press release states. It notes that it is “aggressively pursuing” the information it needs to do so.

The total inferred resource for the project — which includes both Balama East and Balama West — is 1.15 billion tonnes grading 10.2-percent TGC and 0.23-percent V2O5 containing 117 million tonnes of graphite and 2.7 million tonnes of V2O5.

Shares of Syrah were largely unmoved by the release of the maiden resource for Balama East, and last week’s news also seems to have had little effect. While shares traded as high as $2.20 on June 4, they now sit at $1.87.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: Syrah Resources is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.

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