Maputo, Aug. 20, 2025 (Lusa) - Australian mining company Syrah announced on Wednesday that it has received a new tranche of $6.5 million (€5.6 million) of a US loan for its Balama graphite mine in Mozambique, which produces batteries for electric cars.
In a statement to the markets, consulted by Lusa, Syrah says that this is a new instalment of the loan approved by the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which was the first of its kind from the United States (US) government's development finance institution, granted in 2024, and that another $4.5 million (€3.8 million) should be released by October.
It adds that additional funding of $75 million (€64.4 million) under the same loan, which would total $150 million (€128.8 million), is, however, "subject to new conditions", including a "restructuring"of the operation, to be carried out next month.
"There is no certainty that new disbursements of the DFC loan will be finalised," reads the same information, which does not provide any justification.
The company, whose activities in Mozambique are carried out by its subsidiary Twigg Mining and Exploration, in Cabo Delgado, previously justified the financing with "the importance of Balama to strengthen the US supply chain" in "critical minerals".
The Australian firm is also developing Vidalia, a battery material factory in the US, fuelled by Mozambican ore, according to previous Syrah data.
The Australian mining company announced on 19 June that it had resumed production of natural graphite at the Balama mine, in northern Mozambique, after a six-month stoppage caused by social unrest.
In information sent to the markets at the time, Syrah explained that the “resumption of production” took place after access to the site was "restored" on 5 May and following "remobilisation, inspection, maintenance and preparation activities".
"Syrah will progressively increase factory utilisation and production volumes in an operational campaign to replenish the “stock” of finished products in preparation for high-volume shipments. Subject to market demand, Syrah expects to continue operating Balama in campaign mode," it said.
However, in that June report, it emphasised 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 in-depth review of the operating environment".
The mining company announced on 12 December that it had invoked "force majeure" due to the worsening of the demonstrations and protests against the results of the general elections of 9 October 2024 - which have since caused around 400 deaths, as well as the destruction of public and private equipment, essentially until March, throughout the country -, which were conditioning activity at the graphite mine in Balama.
The term "force majeure" is a legal concept that refers to external, unforeseeable and unavoidable events that prevent the fulfilment of contractual obligations.
At the root of the suspension of activity, the company previously explained, were the protests near the mine, which until then had conditioned activity, and which "have been ended and access to the site restored" following the intervention of the Mozambican authorities, who removed the last "illegal protesters".
According to Syrah, the initial protest involved a "small group" of local farmers, with "historical grievances of farmland resettlement" to be resolved.
Overall, graphite production in Mozambique, for electric car batteries, fell by 64% in 2024, to 34,899 tonnes, one of the lowest records in recent years, according to government figures.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
