Total Graphite hires Lycopodium to update Montepuez feasibility study

Total Graphite plc (TGR.L), a company focused on producing flake graphite for the global energy transition, has engaged Lycopodium Minerals Africa (Pty) Limited to update the feasibility study for its Montepuez Graphite Project in Mozambique. The project, which is permitted for an annual production of up to 100,000 tonnes, contains a mineral resource of 110.5 million tonnes at 8.2% total graphitic carbon. The revised study will be based on the two-stage development approach outlined in the October 2017 Value Engineering Study, with initial results anticipated by November 2026. The company is working towards securing project financing and aims to resume construction in 2027.

Lycopodium's scope of work includes revalidating the existing process design and flowsheet, assessing alternative process technologies to improve operational efficiency and economics, and reviewing the sufficiency of metallurgical test work. Additionally, a gap analysis on detailed process engineering will be conducted. The announcement also notes the completion of early site infrastructure, including a 100-person base camp, mobile crusher, power generation units, and ancillary facilities. Approximately 60% of detailed design engineering had been completed previously, providing a solid foundation for the update.

The 2017 Value Engineering Study proposed a two-stage modular development approach, differing from the single-stage configuration of the February 2017 definitive feasibility study. Stage 1 targets approximately 50,000 tonnes per annum of 96.7% total graphitic carbon concentrate, with pre-production capital expenditure of US$42.3 million, operating costs of US$337 per tonne, and a payback period of less than two years. Stage 2 aims to increase combined capacity to roughly 99,000 tonnes per annum, with total capital expenditure near US$69 million and capital intensity around US$700 per annual tonne, while reducing operating costs below US$310 per tonne. These figures from 2017 are historical and may be adjusted for inflation.

Total Graphite owns two projects in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province—Montepuez and Balama Central—which together hold over 13 million tonnes of graphite at an average grade exceeding 8% total graphitic carbon, updated in early 2025. Depending on the Montepuez study results, the company plans to update the Balama Central pre-feasibility study later this year. Chairman Christian Dennis highlighted the company’s US anode project, which in 2017 demonstrated an additional net present value of US$377 million, emphasizing ambitions to establish a vertically integrated graphite and anode materials business for battery supply chains outside China.

The company has outlined a two-phase process: initial results from Lycopodium are expected by November 2026, followed by a second phase to formally update the study for the selected process route. This will establish the technical and economic basis for advancing project financing, with the goal of restarting construction at the permitted Montepuez site in 2027. A company-specific risk remains that the 2017 cost estimates will need revision for inflation, with updated figures yet to be disclosed.