Mozambique’s minister of mineral resources and energy, Carlos Zacarias, said on Tuesday that the country should take advantage of the graphite it mines for the local production of batteries, which are increasingly in demand in the international market for electric vehicles.
“Let the processing [of graphite] go to the final stage,” with the aim of “producing batteries, to add more value, provide more jobs for Mozambicans and, of course, to raise more foreign currency,” said Minister Zacarias.
He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to Twigg’s graphite production plant in Balama district, Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique.
Twigg Exploration & Mining is a subsidiary of the Australian group Syrah Resources, which explores graphite at the Balama mine in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique.
The minister said that Twigg is prepared to operate within the standards required in the industry.
“The impression is good because the company is organised according to the standards of a company of this type,” he stressed.
The graphite produced at the plant is exported to China, and there are already plans to place production in the United States as well.
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Figures released by company officials show that the company has so far invested $494 million (€459.5 million), including four million dollars in social projects to benefit communities.
The Balama mine began commercial production more than five years ago and was highlighted in December 2021 when Syrah announced an agreement with electric vehicle multinational Tesla, which intends to use graphite from the mine, described by the Australian company itself as one of the largest deposits of this type of “quality” ore in the world.
Source: Lusa
