London — The Australian mining company Triton Minerals, which holds the rights to three graphite deposits in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, has announced that its senior directors and management recently visited Mozambique to hold meetings with high-ranking government officials and discuss the development of its Ancuabe Graphite Project.

Work on the project came to a halt on 8 June when the mine site came under attack by jihadist terrorists during which two members of staff were murdered.

In particular, Triton held a meeting with the Director General of INAMI (National Mining Institute). The company also met with officials from the publicly-owned company Ports and Railways of Mozambique (CFM), the Ministry of Land and Environment, and the state-owned energy company EDM.

Following the meetings, Triton reiterated its commitment to the development of the Ancuabe Project and expressed its "gratitude to the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy and INAMI for their support and guidance". It also noted that recent actions by the Mozambican defence forces and its partners had resulted in an improvement in the security status and stability in the Cabo Delgado province.

Once fully operational, Triton expects to ship 60,000 tonnes of graphite per year to Europe from its mine at Ancuabe through the port of Pemba.

Graphite is a highly valued form of carbon due to its properties as a conductor of electricity. It is used in batteries and fuel cells and is the basis for the "miracle material" graphene, which is the strongest material ever measured, with vast potential for use in the electronics industries.