Ann: Balama Production Improvements, page-27

Thanks DoctorFouad,

Yes, basket price is also a short to medium term risk given the amount of new supply they are bringing online. However, I would add a couple of points for consideration:

1) If they can successfully ramp up production their cost per tonne should be well below the existing smaller plants. Fines pricing should find support around the cost of production for these smaller plants.
2) I’m encouraged by the initial testing to achieve a 98% FC product and the higher pricing that should provide. Will be interesting to see how much of the finished product can achieve this grade moving forward.
3) The lithium ion battery industry is powering ahead. Battery delivery times for energy storage applications have blown out to over 12 months in recent times. It’s hard to say how this influences SYR management predictions on natural graphite demand, but it provides me with some confidence.