Aim- and ASX-listed Sovereign Metals has appointed graphite and battery anode specialist consultant Dr Surinder Ghag as chief technology officer of graphite.

Ghag will assist Sovereign's graphite strategy in qualifying the graphite product from its Kasiya rutile/graphite project, in Malawi, for lithium-ion battery anodes.

Ghag is an expert metallurgist with 25 years of industry experience, including developing graphite testwork programmes, ore-to-anode graphite strategies, anode plant feasibility studies and project development and commissioning.

As chief technology officer of graphite, Ghag will be responsible for designing and delivering graphite downstream testwork programmes to be aligned with graphite product development and qualification as Sovereign continues discussions with battery anode processors, end-users and potential future offtake partners.

"I am pleased to welcome Dr Ghag as we continue to strengthen our owner's team in preparation for project execution. Kasiya will deliver the world's lowest cost, lowest carbon footprint graphite.

“Dr Ghag joining Sovereign will significantly enhance our graphite metallurgical expertise and understanding of the downstream market to translate Kasiya's bottom-of-the-cost curve advantage into significant active anode market capture,” says Sovereign MD Frank Eagar.

Further, the company notes that previously reported initial characterisation testwork on Kasiya's graphite has indicated “excellent suitability” for use in lithium-ion batteries with high purity and high crystallinity being the key features.

Additional spheronisation and purification testwork is presently under way at a German graphite laboratory to validate key parameters at a larger scale, with results imminent.

Meanwhile, Sovereign is undertaking a graphite bulk sampling programme to produce large quantities of flake graphite product for further downstream test work and initial product qualification to support ongoing discussions with battery anode processors, end-users and potential future offtake partners.