![did paydirt come with terramodel did paydirt come with terramodel](https://img.informer.com/pc/paydirt-sitework-v5.2-main-view.png)
Walkabout has tapped into the positivity around both graphite and Tanzania. “The Alliance is the ideal platform to collaborate with industry specialists in Europe and to support efforts to secure future supply of an alternative new source of graphite through strategic partnerships while make a lasting and meaningful economic contribution to the region of origin,” new Walkabout chief executive Andrew Cunningham said. In May, Walkabout joined the European Raw Material Alliance, potentially giving it access to strategic partners eager to source alternative graphite supplies. A lot of it will be going into the European market where there are more than 20 battery factories being built.” “The rest of the world wants independence in the battery supply chain so will need to source material outside China. “If you produce a quality product, everyone outside of China will be interested in it,” he explained. Mulligan believes this will become an important factor as international groups lift their demand to meet the global EV rollout. Lindi Jumbo is a high-grade, large flake deposit, one of the few sources of such material outside China. If the investment outlook for Tanzania is sunnier, the same could be said for graphite. “The Government has changed the model from applying it on a case-by case basis to it being a universal standard model across the industry,” he said. Mulligan said expectations in Tanzania were for the policy to remain as a default position for all mining deals. The one legacy issue remaining from Magufuli’s presidency is the question of the Government’s entitlement to a 16% free-carried interest in projects. “Tanzania is very proud of her and the whole region sees her as a bright light.” In fact, the fingers she is pointing are at her own tax office for discouraging investment. “President Samia Suluhu Hassan is bringing new capital works programmes back on without pointing fingers at international firms. “The Companies Administration office registered 200 new companies in the first half of July, that shows the surge in confidence. “Tanzania is a very different environment under the new President,” he said. Mulligan – who has resigned as director and assumed the position of chief operating officer – told Paydirt both commodity and country were enjoying new momentum. Since April, Walkabout has closed a $US20 million project debt financing deal with Tanzanian commercial bank CRDB and has finalised a three tranche equity raising which will eventually net it the $US12 million needed to fund project construction. The turnaround in 2021 has been dramatic.
![did paydirt come with terramodel did paydirt come with terramodel](https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/reviews/034QfbkBTlerT3wJ6C9cfDo-1..v1569469933.png)
“That did a lot of publicity damage for Tanzania,” Mulligan said. When the policy changes were announced the ASX forced Walkabout and other Tanzanian-focused explorers and developers into trading halts, casting unnecessary uncertainty about the security of their projects. “The policy changes were poorly handled in Tanzania, but the situation was also poorly managed in Australia,” he said. While junior miners such as Walkabout were far from happy with the changes, Mulligan believes the reaction was probably too severe. The amendments introduced by then- President John Magufuli were created following a tax dispute with the country’s largest gold miner, Acacia Mining. “Those were the strong resistance points the perceived opacity of the graphite market and the legacy of the 2017 mining act amendments in Tanzania,” longstanding Walkabout director Allan Mulligan said. Graphite prices have climbed steadily in the last 12 months and the approach of new Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan in welcoming foreign capital has given companies such as Walkabout a more positive case to present investors. Walkabout’s ambitions for Lindi Jumbo over the period were frustrated by dark clouds falling over the graphite market and the Tanzanian investment climate freezing over, but this year has seen the company take advantage of brighter outlooks for both. Fully funded and construction underway, Walkabout Resources Ltd’s current position with its Lindi Jumbo graphite project must have felt very far away at several moments in the last five years.