Why Invest in WKT?
Walkabout Resources (ASX: WKT) is an energy minerals developer with a focus on the construction and development of its 100%-owned Lindi Jumbo graphite project, situated in southeast Tanzania. WKT also has exploration projects for gold and base metals in Northern Ireland and Scotland.,
The diversification of Walkabout Resources’ project profile is a strong asset to the company. While Walkabout Resources remains committed to the development of all its projects – its predominant aim is to manage the construction of the Lindi Jumbo graphite mine, which is currently underway.
Unmatched Margins for Large Flake Graphite in a Rapidly Expanding Market
The Lindi Jumbo graphite project has been independently verified as potentially the second-highest margin natural flake graphite project in the world. Located ideally within the highly prospective Mozambique belt, Lindi Jumbo is a unique combination of high-grade and coarse flake. Metallurgical testwork indicates that the high-grade concentrate (>95% TGC) is highly skewed towards the larger flakes with up to 75% of the flakes in final concentrate above 180 microns resulting in a higher basket price and higher margins for our sales product.
The Project boasts the highest Ore Reserve grade in of any undeveloped project in Africa, at 17.9% TGC for a current Life of Mine (LOM) of 24 years at an annual planned production rate of 40,000 tonnes of screened graphite concentrate. With this grade based on only 37% of the Measured and Indicated portion of the JORC Mineral Resource, there is ample upside potential to add to the Ore Reserve and/or to increase the production output.
Lindi Jumbo: Outstanding Mine Life and Low Capex
To date the application of Walkabout Resources’ investment strategy has been focussed on Lindi Jumbo in the interest of optimising the value of its unique attributes.
In an environment where product demand is growing exponentially, our mining methodology involves selectively mining only the highest grade deposits and to process mined ore with grade greater than 10% TGC.
The Lindi Jumbo processing plant has been specially designed to preserve our incredibly high distribution (75%) of large flake graphite (>180 microns) resulting in a product with unique characteristics, size, purity and expansion ratios that attract a premium in the market.
By focusing on high grade ore, Lindi Jumbo’s capex has been kept to the lowest per tonne of annual production. Currently in construction, the Lindi Jumbo graphite project boasts the lowest upfront Capex in Tanzania – to the value of US$27.8 million- and forecasted operating costs of US$347/t of screened high-grade graphite concentrate FOB at the port of Mtwara.
These minimised development costs have allowed long-term shareholders to substantially fund development with the addition of project debt. As a result, shareholders own a greater proportion of future, more profitable income streams than if the annual production was maximised.
The Life of Mine (LoM) for Lindi Jumbo has been estimated at 24 years, making it a significantly robust investment opportunity, promising low costs with high returns.
Knowledgeable Team Overseeing A Solid Strategy
No project is able to succeed without appropriate management behind it. This is why Walkabout Resources has invested in a highly experienced, passionate group of experts in their respective fields.
The WKT board of directors has members with years of experience in mine development and production as well as qualifications and global experience in engineering, marketing and geology that give them additional knowledge on the many facets of mining and the sales of our products in the international markets.
The team’s capability is evident through their ability to get the Lindi Jumbo project predominantly debt funded and into construction whilst managing their other global exploration interests.
Lindi Jumbo has been strategically localised, receiving funding from Tanzania-based bank CRDB and maintaining a dedicated team on ground to manage the project.
The Lindi Jumbo Management team in Tanzania have worked hard from the onset to develop positive relationships with the Government of Tanzania and all affected stakeholders, resulting in the project to be supported at every stage.
Tanzania: A Secure Investment Outlook For A Commodity On The Rise
Lindi Jumbo will be the first major mining project to commence production since the 2017 mining act amendments were enacted in Tanzania. For this reason, there is a lot of attention on the project, as it shows the capacity for success within the country.
A new governmental structure is already proving beneficial for mining endeavours in Tanzania, with President Samia Suluhu Hassan declaring the need for foreign investment and good international relations within the country. Recognition of the role of mining to the country and the direction of ministers to pursue it demonstrates a stable and clear government, encouraging potential investors.
Lindi Jumbo is the first non-Chinese owned graphite project to receive debt funding in recent years. Due to the unprecedented demand for green energy storage, including electrical vehicles demand for natural flake graphite has again soared, making it highly sought-after in a number of markets looking to transition to the use of more renewable resources. For this reason, market experts predict that demand for graphite will outstrip supply within years with the World Bank predicting that the demand for graphite will be so high that current production would need to ramp up by nearly 500% by 2050 under a two degree scenario (2DS) just to meet demand,”
With construction underway and anticipated for commissioning to commence in Q3 of 2022, Lindi Jumbo will potentially be the next graphite project to go into production worldwide.
Lindi Jumbo is marking a lot of ‘firsts’ in graphite mining, validating its undeniable potential to be a highly sought-after future graphite producer.