Page 12 - AfrElec Week 14 2022
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AfrElec DIESEL GENERATION AfrElec
Australia’s Triton signs
power supply deal for
Mozambique graphite asset
MOZAMBIQUE ASX-LISTED Triton Minerals has signed energy solution and potentially backed by con-
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) nection to the grid (if required). The solution is
with a company that will set up diesel genera- designed to fit with modular processing plant
tors to power the miner’s graphite project in design.”
Mozambique. The Ancuabe asset is estimated to have
Triton said in a release on Tuesday (April 5) 24.9mn tonnes of ore. It has a number of
that Himoinsa Southern Africa will construct offtake agreements including one with Yichang
the diesel-powered modular, scalable, cost-effec- Xinchang Graphite of China that was signed in
tive and sustainable power solution for the Anc- November 2021.
uabe project in northern Cabo Delgado region Graphite investors in Mozambique are
on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) angling to play a part in the burgeoning electric
basis. vehicles (EVs) industry. The mineral is used in
The agreement, to be aligned with the plant’s the production of lithium-ion batteries that not
finance, construction and operational objectives, only power EVs but also in mobile phones and
covers a small-scale stage one startup operation portable electronic devices.
billed to be operational by the third quarter of Use of modular plant that was proposed by
2023. It also covers stage two expansion to full Himoinsa is a proven development methodol-
capacity. The second phase is likely to start in ogy, widely used in the mineral resources indus-
2025. try, ideal for African developments and projects
Triton said the power solution for both stages in the prevailing tight market conditions. Triton
of the mine operations will use either power gen- added that the BOOT arrangement is ideal in
erated onsite through diesel and hybrid solar or that it reduces initial project funding require-
combined with power supply from the local grid. ments while de-risking the Ancuabe project.
“Stage one initial small-scale startup will pro- “This MoU marks an important step in our
vide power for a processing plant with an esti- commercial pilot plant development at our flag-
mated processing capacity range of 100 to 125k ship Ancuabe project,” said Triton managing
tpa of ore, producing 5 to 8 k tpa of graphite director Andrew Frazer.
concentrate under which Himoinsa will supply “We are very excited to be working with the
1.5MW of diesel-powered electrical generation highly credentialed Himoinsa group. The sup-
and potentially a solar/battery hybrid energy ply of power is crucial to the success of a mining
solution,” said Triton. project and particularly at the early stages of the
“Stage two expansion will scale up the sup- project development, the Himoinsa solutions
ply of energy to approximately 5-6MW with the will provide the Ancuabe project with flexibility
addition of both a diesel and solar/battery hybrid and reliability.”
P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 14 07•April•2022
