Maputo, June 19, 2025 (Lusa) - Australian mining company Syrah announced on Thursday that it has resumed production of natural graphite at the Balama mine in northern Mozambique, which electric car battery manufacturers use, after a six-month shutdown caused by social unrest.
In a statement sent to the markets, consulted by Lusa, Syrah explained that the “restart of production” took place after the company restored access to the site on 5 May, following “remobilisation, inspection, maintenance and preparation activities”.
“Syrah will progressively increase the utilisation of the plant and production volumes in an operational campaign to replenish finished product stock in preparation for large volume shipments. Subject to market demand, Syrah expects to continue operating Balama in campaign mode,” the statement reads.
It adds that “there is significant and growing latent demand for the natural graphite products” that the mining company supplies, “particularly in the market outside China, due to disruptions in global supply, including those from Balama,” and therefore expects to “accelerate” deliveries in the third quarter of this year.
However, in today’s statement, the mining company stressed that the declaration of “force majeure” - which led to the suspension of activity - under the terms of the Balama Mining Agreement “remains in force, pending the resumption of product shipments and a more thorough review of the operating environment.”
The mining company announced on 12 December 2024, also in a statement to the markets, that it had invoked “force majeure” because demonstrations and protests against the results of the general elections of 9 October 2024 had intensified. These events had already caused around 400 deaths, as well as the destruction of public and private equipment, mainly until March, and these developments were affecting activity at the graphite mine in Balama.
The term “force majeure” is a legal concept that refers to external, unforeseen and inevitable events that prevent the fulfilment of contractual obligations.
The company previously explained that the protests at the mine had affected operations until then, but that the Mozambican authorities intervened, removed the last “illegal protesters”, and “the protests have ended and access to the site has been restored”, thereby allowing activity to resume.
“Following a formal agreement between farmers, Mozambican government authorities and the company, most of the protesters ended their protests in Balama in April 2025. A small group of people continued to block access to the site, and at that time Syrah had no outstanding complaints against it,” it previously reported.
According to Syrah, the initial dispute involved a “small group” of local farmers with “long-standing grievances over agricultural land resettlement” that remained to be resolved.
“Syrah continues to work proactively with the government of Mozambique, the provincial authorities of Cabo Delgado and district and community leaders to follow up on the resettlement processes arising from the relocated farmers and to ensure continued support for the operation and free movement of goods and people to and from the Balama site, as required by the Balama Mining Agreement,” today’s statement added.
The Australian company is building Vidalia, in the United States, a factory for electric car battery material, and Mozambican ore will power it.
Overall, graphite production in Mozambique for electric car batteries declined by 64% in 2024 to 34,899 tpnnes, one of the lowest figures in recent years, according to government data that Lusa reported in February.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
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