Name of the Project
Kasiya rutile-graphite project.

Location
Central Malawi.

Project Owner/s
Developer of mineral resource projects in Malawi Sovereign Metals and global mining group Rio Tinto.

Project Description
An optimised prefeasibility study (OPFS) announced in January 2025 has reconfirmed Kasiya as a leading global future supplier of strategic critical minerals outside of China. 

The OPFS proposes a fully owner-operated, large-scale openpit dry mining operation using draglines and the trucking of material to the processing plants. The 2023 prefeasibility study (PFS) envisaged mining would be undertaken on a contractor basis.

The project will have an initial life-of-mine (LoM) of 25 years, based on a hydraulic mining process where slurry material will be screened and pumped overland to processing plants.

The OPFS proposes the construction of two 12-million-tonne-a-year processing plants – South Kasiya, followed by North Kasiya in Year 5.

Dry mining means the material received at the plant is not prewet and prescrubbed. The OPFS, therefore, proposes a process plant front-end comprising two scrubbers and two oversize screens per 12-million-tonne plant. No further changes are proposed to the processing plant flowsheet.

Average rutile production remains unchanged from the 2023 PFS at 222 000 t/y, while average graphite production has increased from 244 000 t/y in the OPFS to 233 000 t/y in the 2023 PFS. 

Total rutile production over the LoM is estimated at 5.55-million tonnes and total graphite at 6.28-million tonnes.

As per the PFS, a conventional process would be used to produce rutile and graphite concentrate, with tailings in separate sand and fines streams being pumped to a conventional tailings storage facility. Mined-out pit areas would be backfilled as part of a rehabilitation process. 

Potential Job Creation
Kasiya will employ nearly 1 100 people, the majority of whom will be employed in plant operations. For every person employed directly in the project, a significant multiplier of people will be employed in indirect jobs supporting the project.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The OPFS estimates pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $2.32-billion (2023 PFS: $2.42-billion), and an internal rate of return of 27% (2023 PFS: 32%%).

Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure (capex) to first production is estimated at $665-million, with total LoM development capex estimated at $1.23-billion (2023 PFS: $1.25-billion).

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Sovereign has completed comprehensive testwork programmes to confirm the suitability of graphite from Kasiya as a product for the two largest end-use markets for natural flake graphite – refractory applications and anode material for use in lithium-ion batteries.

The programmes, completed by ProGraphite and Dorfner Anzaplan, in Germany, demonstrated that Kasiya graphite concentrate contains very low sulphur levels, without other impurities of concern, providing a competitive advantage over other current and potential sources of graphite supply.

The refractories market is the second-largest end-user of natural graphite and requires larger, coarser graphite flakes with specific chemical and physical properties.

Graphite products for refractory applications typically require larger flake sizes than the smaller graphite flake products used to produce battery anode materials. Larger flake-size graphite products tend to attract significantly higher prices than smaller flake products.

These two sectors account for more than three-quarters of global natural graphite demand, Sovereign has said.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
ProGraphite and Dorfner Anzaplan (testwork programmes).

Contact Details for Project Information
Sovereign Metals, tel +61 8 9322 6322 or email info@sovereignmetals.com.au.