Ryzon Materials and Yintai Xinhai Mining have entered into a non-binding heads of agreement (HoA) for an engineering, procurement, construction and management (EPC+M) contract for the Nachu graphite mine.

Through its Tanzanian subsidiary, Uranex Tanzania, Ryzon Materials holds full (100%) ownership of the Nachu graphite project near Ruangwa.

The project is located roughly 220km from the port of Mtwara.

Under the HoA, Xinhai will draw on its expertise in mining engineering, mineral processing and project delivery to prepare revised cost estimates for the plant’s initial stage within the current quarter.

The project has a planned capacity of 80,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of graphite. Xinhai will also complete the detailed engineering phase, as previously announced on 30 September 2025.

Ryzon chairman Frank Poullas said: “We appreciate the support we continue to receive from Xinhai and its partners. We look forward to moving towards major development works in the coming year.”

The agreement sets out the process for finalising the EPC+M contract, with Xinhai scheduled to submit a formal proposal to Ryzon in the second quarter of 2026.

In addition, Xinhai is supporting Ryzon in arranging financing for the project by leveraging its network to help advance the process.

At present, discussions are under way with several parties, primarily located in China, with the aim of obtaining at least 80% of the required capital through debt financing.

Xinhai chairman Elon Zhang said: “With the numerous site visits our company has conducted at Nachu and all the test work completed in our lab, I have no doubt that Nachu is a unique graphite mine and will push extremes to bring the project into production in the soonest possible time frame.”