Tirupati Graphite Share Price (TGR)

Cheers Whatwhatkid a good read 👍

Thank you, I'd already grabbed my free trial previously so would have had to pay!

It's a reasonable interview but most of it is obviously unlikely to materialise. Of course Shishir would take investment from the US, he'd take it from absolutely anyone willing now in the desperate state the company is in.

In terms of his production outlook he's ignored the fact that the nameplate capacity has actually been downgraded to 20k and instead starts from 30k and claims to be aiming for an additional 24k and then 50k in Moz. History says it won't happen but hey, it doesn't always repeat.

As for boasting about getting into production quicker and cheaper than anyone else... well, it's his job right now to sell the company and pull off investment but frankly the above is irrelevant. Financiers are much more likely to fund bigger projects that have been dotting all the i's and crossing all the ts and that haven't reached production only due to a lack of funding vs a company like TGR which claimed to be able to do a hell of a lot more with the funding they received and has so far missed its targets by such a gigantic degree.

There has to be an update in the coming weeks, either because funding is sorted or to inform the market what's going to happen re the CLN payment.

That was it no part 2

Shares dived

Tirupati's share priced has dived in recent years due to a weak graphite price, weather-related events and operational difficulties that have led to delays in ramp up. Today, its market capitalisation is at £6.5 million after a 12-month shares slump of 87%. Another small cap, ASX-listed Syrah Resources has seen its shares fall 55% after graphite prices tumbled.

Poddar said the priority now was to get development finance and push ahead with expansion. The next stage was to add 24,000 tonnes to take the tally to 54,000t in Madagascar and to build a first project in Mozambique which would be a 50,000t plant.

Getting into 2026 he saw total asset production levels at 104,000t. His aim was still to speak for 8% of the non-Chinese graphite market," he said.

"In two years and three months, we have built two projects in Madagascar at lowest quartile cost."

On the issue of related party transactions "they connect to the key strengths of the company. We have made RNS announcements about these."

"We have brought Madagascar into production in just two years and three months. Who else has done that?"

Analysts said they wouldn't be surprised if Poddar had plans to lobby a new British government for support, especially if Labour gets in after outlining new green pledges. In the past, Tirupati urged the ministers to help to establish a centre of excellence for value-added downstream processing in the UK through the availability of land, subsidies, and grants.

Said Poddar: "These approaches would bolster the UK's positioning in the battery and critical minerals value chain and promote the development and security of supply chains for critical minerals, including flake graphite."

Will Washington step in to help African graphite producer?

CEO will not rule out US-support for battery feedstock project

Graphite producer Tirupati is looking for strategic finance partners to fund growth projects after a boardroom rumpus failed last week to unseat founder Shishir Poddar.

In an exclusive interview with Mining Journal, Poddar declined to rule out the possibility of support from Washington whose representatives, he said, had visited the miner's producing operations in Madagascar.

The US is looking to secure supplies of graphite – deployed in lithium-ion batteries – which is mostly produced and processed in China.

Poddar needs funding for the next phase of development which also involves bringing graphite into production at acquired properties in Mozambique. The Americans, UK or EU could help, observers suggested.

Nils Backeberg, director of market intelligence firm Project Blue, told media at the end of last year "we have already seen graphite companies securing funding from US and EU government initiatives to develop mines and battery-grade anode material plants to develop supply chains outside China." This activity has continued in 2024.

Battle scars

A bruising boardroom battle with former directors seeking to oust Poddar from the company had put the brakes on talks with development finance institutions, but these were now "very much back on track".

London-listed Tirupati was forced to call a general meeting after rebels complained about issues linked to corporate governance and related-party transactions.

Now, Poddar has brought in a new chairman Michael Lynch Bell, a former deputy chairman of Kaz Minerals and currently a non-executive director and chairman of AIM and TSX-listed Serabi Gold.

Poddar wants to strengthen the company and put a bruising couple of months behind him. Rumours had been spread, he said, "by a fault-finding group".

Several former directors were part of the group that requisitioned the meeting including Isabel de Salis, who co-founded City financial PR agency, St Brides.

In the special meeting in London last week a sizeable proportion of the shares voted (43%) were against Poddar's management.

Poddar told MJ he had no intention of taking the company private despite chat room rumours.

"Do you think we could (grow the company) without coming back to capital markets? Do you think we listed just for the fun of it?"

Poddar said the objective was to build a company "and for that we need access to capital markets; we need information about Tirupati to be made available to the public. Being a listed entity help us to move towards what we are trying to achieve."