Black Rock signs third deal with Chinese buyer

Black Rock Mining has secured a third Chinese buyer for graphite from its Mahenge mine in Tanzania.

The company signed a three-year deal with Chinese trading house Taihe Soar to supply up to 100,000 tonnes per annum by the final year.

In October last year, Perth-based Black Rock signed agreements with Heilongjiang Bohao and Qingdao Fujin.

Combined annual tonnage of all three offtake agreements is up to 205,000t by year three, representing around 85 per cent of the mine’s proposed annual production.

The company is on track to deliver first concentrate in 2020.

The Mahenge mine has a mineral resource estimate of 211.9 million tonnes at 7.8 per cent total graphite content for 16.6mt of contained graphite.

Black Rock managing director John de Vries said the company was confident it would secure access to development funding in time to meet its project schedule.

“Being able to place the volumes that we have in the expanded graphite market suggests that significantly more demand exists in this sector than many commentators have anticipated,” he said.

“This off-take agreement is significant as having effectively sold out modules one and two, clearly demonstrates that strong market demand exists for Mahenge’s unique Premium and Ultra products.”

Shares in Black Rock were up 2.6 per cent to trade at 3.9 cents each at the close of trade.