4 August 2014
STUDY AUTHOR AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE APPOINTMENTS Highlights: Syrah has appointed leading global mining services consultancy Snowden Group as responsible author for the Bankable Feasibility Study
Snowden has substantial experience with the Balama project, having prepared the 2013 Balama West Scoping Study
BFS progressing well and is expected to be released by end calendar year 2014
Appointment of four key technical professionals who will strengthen Syrah's management team in preparation for the delivery of Balama
Jeff Sterling: Oversight Manager - 25 years of mechanical engineering experience in infrastructure engineering, construction and peer review
Ian Stewart: Project Manager - over 20 years of experience in mining engineering, including on projects transitioning from feasibility to construction to production
Ricardo Rodrigues: Construction Manager - 15 years of experience in construction management
Andrew Hickey: Logistics Manager - 21 years of experience in logistics management
Introduction
Syrah Resources Limited (ASX: SYR, Syrah or the Company) is very pleased to announce the appointment of Snowden Group (Snowden) as responsible author for the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS), together with the appointment of four key technical professionals who will strengthen Syrah's management team: Jeff Sterling (Managing Director of Intech Engineers) as Oversight Manager, Ian Stewart as Project Manager, Ricardo Rodrigues as Construction Manager and Andrew Hickey as Logistics Manager. Further detail is set out below:
Syrah Resources Ltd (ABN 77 125 242 284). Level 9/356 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000 Australia Ph: 03 96707264
ASX Code SYR
Current Corporate Structure
Ordinary Shares
Issued Shares: 163,015,614
Options Exercisable at $0.26: | 1,979,467 |
Exercisable at $2.21: | 50,000 |
Exercisable at $2.90: | 250,000 |
Exercisable at $3.87: | 1,000,000 |
Exercisable at $5.50: | 500,000 |
Major Shareholders | |
Directors | 22.28% |
Citicorp Nom PL | 12.68% |
HSBC Custody Nom Aus Ltd | 7.06% |
Copper Strike Ltd | 6.77% |
National Nom Ltd | 6.28% |
Gasmere PL | 4.00% |
Board of Directors
Mr Tom Eadie
Non-Executive Chairman
Mr Paul Kehoe
Managing Director
Mr Tolga Kumova
Executive Director
Mr Rhett Brans
Non-Executive Director
Mr José Manuel Caldeira
Non-Executive Director
Ms Melanie Leydin
Company Secretary
Key Project
Balama Graphite and Vanadium Project (Mozambique) Balama is the largest and one of the highest grade flake graphite and vanadium projects globally.
www.syrahresources.com.auSnowden
Syrah has appointed Snowden as responsible author for the BFS. In this role, Snowden will take overall responsibility for delivering the Balama BFS, with key inputs from Knight Piesold (Tailings Dam), Environmental and Coastal Services (Environment and social), Snowden Group (Mine plan), Chalieco (Plant Design), A & C Hickey Solution Development (Logistics), SRK Consulting (Geotechnical) and Intech Engineers (Infrastructure). Snowden is a leading international mining consultancy which has significant experience with the Balama project, having prepared the 2013 Balama West Scoping Study.
The BFS is progressing well and is expected to be released to the market before year end. The scope of the BFS is to consider a 2.0 Mtpa operation that will produce up to approximately 280,000 tpa of graphite product, assuming an average head grade of approximately 15% total graphitic carbon (TGC).
In advance of completion of the BFS, Syrah has commenced planning for early works on site at Balama, including in relation to initial earth works, access roads and the construction of a water pipeline from the nearby dam to the mine site. Trucks and heavy earthmoving equipment purchased during December 2013 is expected on site shortly to commence work.
Discussions in relation to debt finance are ongoing with several major international financial institutions showing significant interest. The Company considers it has a range of alternatives to fund the development of Balama and will continue to explore these options as the BFS progresses,
Syrah's current expectations with respect to the development timetable are set out below (subject to completion of the BFS).
Q2 CY14 Q3 CY14 Q4 CY14 Q1 CY15 Q2 CY15 Q3 CY15 Q4 CY15 Q1 CY16 Q2 CY16
Environmental Approval
Bankable Feasibility Study
In just 5 years, Syrah Resources
will have progressed from a grass roots explorer to a leading graphite producer
Debt Financing
Construction
Commissioning
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Syrah Resources Ltd (ABN 77 125 242 284). Level 9/356 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000 Australia Ph: 03 96707264
Jeff Sterling / Intech Engineers
Jeff Sterling has been appointed as Oversight Manager. In this role, he will act as the Company's
representative in the completion of the Bankable Feasibility Study and subsequent delivery of Balama.
Jeff is the Managing Director of Intech Engineers, an independent Australian engineering firm. Jeff brings over 25 years of mechanical engineering experience in infrastructure engineering, construction and peer review. Intech Engineers has significant experience with many different mining projects and some of their high profile projects include:
Fortescue Metals Group - Cloudbreak Fines Plant Upgrade
Glencore - McArthur River Mining Phase Development Project
Atlas Iron - Pardoo Project
Western Areas - Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll Nickel Projects
CopperCo / CST Mining - Lady Annie Expansion Stage 2 and 3
Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart has been appointed as Project Manager. In this role, he will be responsible for overall project management of the development of the Balama mine.
Ian is a highly experienced engineer professional with over 20 years of experience within the mining industry. Ian has considerable expertise in mining engineering involving projects moving from feasibility stage into construction and through to production.
Ian's previous role was Project Manager for the Sukari Gold Project in Egypt for Centamin Plc. Ian oversaw all aspects of the development of the project and subsequent expansions. Stages 1 and 2 of the project involved development of a $300 million, 4 million tonne per annum gold plant with associated infrastructure. Stage 3 consisted of a $17.5 million upgrade of the plant to 5 million tonnes per annum and stage 4 was a 5 million ton per annum additional plant making a total joint capacity of
10 million tonnes per annum.
Previous roles also included Project Manager for Crew Gold's, LEFA gold deposit in Guinea and the
Klipspringer diamond mine in South Africa.
Syrah Resources Ltd (ABN 77 125 242 284). Level 9/356 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000 Australia Ph: 03 96707264
Ricardo Rodrigues
Ricardo Rodrigues has been appointed as Construction Manager. In this role, he will focus on the construction of the Balama project.
Ricardo has over 15 years of experience in construction management. Prior to working at Syrah Resources, Ricardo was a construction manager at Mott Macdonald, Global Engineering Consultants. Prior to Mott Macdonald, Ricardo was as Construction Manager at Mineral Deposits' Grande Cote Mineral Sands project in Senegal which gave him a comprehensive range of experience from rail building to port expansion, and all civil works. Ricardo has worked in Mozambique on several assignments and is a fluent Portuguese speaker.
Andrew Hickey
Andrew Hickey has been appointed as Logistics Manager. In this role, he will be responsible for the logistics of the Balama mine.
Andrew has over 21 years of experience in logistics management. He has a wealth of experience in logistics management, including administration and logistics manager at Alcoa of Australia, Operations Manager at Trafigura and contracts and logistics manager at Oxiana (now Oz Minerals). At Oxiana, Andrew was responsible for setting up the supply chain for the Prominent Hill mine and overseeing the land freight operations at the Golden Grove mine in Western Australia and at the Sepon mine in Laos.
These appointments are the key management team required to commence construction at Balama.
Technical appointments to complement existing skills set
On the Board of Directors, Syrah has Rhett Brans who has over 39 years of experience in project development of treatment plants and mine developments. In his recent Executive Director role at Perseus, he successfully completed a Bankable Feasibility Study and completed construction of the 5.5 million tonnes per year Edikan Gold Mine in Ghana. He held a Non-Executive Director position with Tiger Resources and in that role helped steer the company's organic development strategies. Some of these have now been completed while others remain underway. He has also managed many feasibility studies in various capacities through his career. Rhett Brans is ideally positioned to provide hands on Board oversight and advice to the technical team.
Paul Kehoe Managing Director Syrah Resources Ltd
Mobile contact - +61 3 414156288
Email - p.kehoe@syrahresources.com.au
Syrah Resources Ltd (ABN 77 125 242 284). Level 9/356 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000 Australia Ph: 03 96707264
About Syrah Resources
Syrah Resources (ASX code: SYR) is an Australian resource company with a diversified exploration portfolio located in southeast Africa. The Company is rapidly progressing its core Balama Graphite and Vanadium Project in Mozambique to production. Balama is a 106 km2 granted prospecting licence located within the Cabo Delgado province in the district of Namuno in northern Mozambique. The project is approximately 265 km by road west of the port town of Pemba. Pemba Port is a deep -water container port, and the third largest in Mozambique. The Balama Project site is accessible by a sealed, main road, running directly from the airport and Pemba Port. The main road is located 1 km from the airport. Syrah's exploration portfolio also includes a strategic mineral sands portfolio in Tanzania, comprising eight tenement areas, some with high grade heavy mineral intersections, and the
Nachingwea graphite project in Tanzania.
Syrah Resources Ltd (ABN 77 125 242 284). Level 9/356 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000 Australia Ph: 03 96707264
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