Name of the Project
Kasiya rutile/graphite project.

Location
Central Malawi.

Project Owner/s
Sovereign Metals and Rio Tinto.

Rio Tinto invested in Sovereign in July 2023, resulting in an initial 15% shareholding and options, and expiring within 12 months of initial investment, to increase its position to 19.99%. Under the investment agreement, Rio Tinto will provide assistance and advice on technical and marketing aspects of Kasiya, including on Sovereign’s graphite co-product, with a primary focus on spherical purified graphite for the lithium-ion battery anode market.

Project Description
Kasiya is the biggest natural rutile deposit, and second-largest flake graphite deposit, in the world. The project has an inferred resource of 609-million tonnes grading 0.9% rutile and 1.1% graphite, for total contained tonnages of 5.7-million and 6.5-million for the two minerals respectively.

A prefeasibility study has confirmed a potentially major critical minerals project, with an extremely low CO2 footprint delivering significant volumes of natural rutile and graphite while generating significant economic returns.

The proposed large-scale operation will process 24-million tonnes of ore a year to produce an estimated 245 000 t of natural rutile, and 288 000 t of natural graphite, a year at steady state, for an initial mine life of 25 years.

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 $1.61-billion and an internal rate of return of 28%, with a payback of 4.3 years from the start of production.

Capital Expenditure
Capital costs to first production are estimated at $597-million. Expansion capital is estimated at $287-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Sovereign Metals has successfully completed the mining trials stage of its pilot mining and land rehabilitation programme (pilot phase).

The trials were concluded as part of the optimisation study.

Prior to the hydraulic mining trials, a dry mining trial successfully excavated a test pit to a depth of 20 m.

The trials confirm that the soft, friable Kasiya ore can be efficiently mined, Sovereign has reported.

Land rehabilitation demonstrations are now under way, starting with the backfilling of the test pit.

Mined material is being placed back into the pit and all areas will be graded. The backfilling stage is expected to conclude in December.

As part of the pilot phase, the company has built small rehabilitation demonstration pits that will be used to demonstrate multiple rehabilitation processes.

Sovereign aims to restore land to conditions that achieve the same or better agricultural yields than those prior to mining operations.

The results will also allow for determining optimal approaches, consequently providing critical information for Kasiya’s environmental- and social-impact assessment.

Sovereign remains focused on becoming a leading global supplier to the titanium and graphite industries.

Key Contracts, Suppliers, and Consultants
SocialEssence (continued development of Sovereign’s stakeholder relations, social performance objectives and its corporate social responsibility framework); and Fraser Alexander (mining trial).

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