Volt Resources Ltd. said Dec. 15 that a pre-feasibility study for its Nachingwea graphite project in Tanzania indicates the project will have a pretax net present value of US$1.31 billion and internal rate of return of 87%.

The project, which is forecast to produce 170,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate each year, is expected to require an initial capital outlay of US$173 million and annual OpEx of US$93 million.

The study estimates average annual EBITDA will amount to US$195 million with payback expected within 1.4 years based on a 22-year mine life.

The tonnage of the resource for Namangale has also increased to 461 million tonnes at 4.9% total graphitic carbon from 446 million tonnes at 5.01% total graphitic carbon previously.

Volt's board has now given the green light for the project to move to a definitive feasibility study in 2017.