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by Will Purcell

The critical and specialty minerals stocks box score for Thursday was a positive 97-86-127 as the TSX Venture Exchange added 12 points to 995. Tiago Cunha's South Star Battery Metals Corp. (STS) lost one-half cent to 13 cents on 26,000 shares.

South Star cheers that it has restarted its Santa Cruz graphite plant in Brazil this week, well ahead of schedule. The plant, the company says, will first be tested under no-load conditions, but it will "transition to load conditions following positive results." The restart, the company enthuses, "is a significant milestone in the progress of this plant toward commissioning." (And commissioning will presumably be a significant milestone on the journey to production.)

Mr. Cunha, interim chief executive officer since Richard Pearce resigned last September, was predictably pleased to cheer along the plant restart. The Santa Cruz team, he glowed, "continues to deliver," noting that its efforts "have placed the restart nearly three months ahead of schedule." This is the rainy season in the area and periods of heavy rainfall did affect the work, although they never materially hampered progress: "Brazilians are accustomed to the annual rainy season," Mr. Cunha beamed, but cautioned that "these rains can impede work, especially when electrical systems are involved." And so, stay tuned.

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