Name of the Project
Kasiya rutile project.

Location
Malawi.

Project Owner/s
Sovereign Metals.

Project Description
Kasiya is the biggest undeveloped rutile deposit in the world. Total mineral resources are estimated at 605-million tonnes grading 0.98% rutile and 1.24% total graphitic carbon.

The initial scoping study on the project has developed the concept for a multidecade mine providing a consistent supply of a highly sought-after rutile and graphite while contributing to Malawi’s economy.

The proposed large-scale operation will process soft, friable mineralisation mined from surface and will primarily use conventional hydromining to produce a slurry that will be pumped to a wet concentration plant where the material will be sized.

A heavy mineral concentrate will be produced by processing the sand fraction through a series of gravity spirals, after which it will be transferred to the dry mineral separation plant, where premium quality rutile will be produced using electrostatic and magnetic separation.

Graphite-rich concentrate will be collected from the gravity spirals and processed in a separate graphite flotation plant, producing a coarse-flake graphite product.

The mine will have a throughput of 12-million tonnes a year over a 25-year mine life, producing 122 000 t/y of rutile and 80 000 t/y of graphite.

The rutile and graphite products will be trucked a short distance using existing bitumen roads to the Kanengo rail terminal, from where they will be railed through the Nacala Logistics Corridor to the deep-water port of Nacala on the eastern seaboard of Mozambique.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $861-million and an internal rate of return 36%, with a payback of 2.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
$332-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Sovereign Metals has started a graphite bulk sample programme at its Kasiya project for qualification, downstream testwork and product development purposes.

The company is also upgrading in-country facilities to allow for the continuous production of bulk samples for marketing. 

Currently, material from the planned mining pits is sourced from remaining samples from the 2022 Kasiya resource drill programme.

The samples are blended to create a bulk sample, which is prepared for processing at the company's facility, in Malawi, where it is sized and deslimed.

The graphite preconcentrate is planned to be sent to SGS Lakefield for flotation and final processing into a final graphite product. This initial representative graphite product will provide samples for downstream testwork focused on coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) anode material through purification, spheronisation, coating and battery cell cycling tests; the assessment and qualification for traditional industrial graphite markets, including the refractory, foundry and expandable graphite segments; and the future production of CSPG to be provided for anode or battery manufacturers for assessment and qualification.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
DRA (lead study manager); Jem-Met (project management); Placer Consulting (mineral resource estimate); Oreology Mine Consulting (mine scheduling and pit optimisation); Fraser Alexander (mining methods and tailings management); Epoch Resources (tailing disposal); AML (metallurgy – rutile); SGS (metallurgy – graphite); Dhamana Consulting (environment and social studies); JCM Power (power); TZMI (marketing – rutile); Fastmarkets (marketing – graphite); Morgan Sterling Consultants (logistics) and Minviro (life-cycle assessments).

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