Walkabout Resources has secured a US $20m Project Finance Facility for the Lindi Jumbo Graphite Mine in Tanzania from Tanzanian Bank CRDB. During 2020, CRDB conducted detailed due diligence of technical, financial, market, legal and environmental elements of the Lindi Jumbo Project resulting in the provision of the offer of this debt facility. Key terms for the Facility are described in Schedule 1.
According to Managing Director of Walkabout Allan Mulligan, the provision of this significant debt package for Lindi unlocks the final milestone in project development and construction efforts at the mine site can commence as soon as formal documents have been executed.
“We are delighted to have CRDB Bank as the Lindi Jumbo project financing partner. We were very keen to meet not just the requirements of local content but the spirit as well and the CRDB facility accomplishes this. We have persisted with negotiating this funding facility for more than a year. The relationship benefits Tanzania in growing its services sector and benefits our company, as the cost of funding reduces significantly in terms of sovereign risk premiums. The Project has assessed any potential Covid delays and we have introduced suitable travel and safety systems to mitigate risk. This will represent the first serious construction effort of a mining project in Tanzania since the 2017 Mining Act amendments,” he added.
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Lindi Jumbo Graphite Project
The 100%-owned high-grade, high-margin, large flake Lindi Jumbo Graphite project is located in south-eastern Tanzania approximately 200km from the port of Mtwara. The high-grade resource outcropping at surface boasts the highest reserve grade of any undeveloped graphite project in Africa of 5.5mt @ 17.9% Total Graphitic Carbon (TGC). The high reserve grade and extraordinary distribution of approximately 75% of the flakes above 180 microns in the final concentrate makes Lindi Jumbo an exceptional project in the graphite world.
The modest production target to produce 40,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate above 95% TGC per annum for a life-ofmine of 24 years lends itself to an open cast mine with a small footprint using a very small mining fleet. The average annual mill feed at 17.9% TGC is 230,000 tonnes per year or less than 650 tonnes per day. The low grade material with a grade below 10% and averaging 6% TGC that will be excavated through the mining process will be stockpiled alongside the pit and this ore can be available for later treatment, blending or be sold to other parties.
