ASX-listed Sovereign Metals has announced “exceptional” first-year results from its rehabilitation trials at the Kasiya rutile/graphite project, in Malawi, delivering critical data that will inform the progressive rehabilitation strategy for the ongoing definitive feasibility study (DFS).

The company says the successful rehabilitation trials address a key component of Kasiya's development pathway, demonstrating that post-mining land can achieve superior agricultural productivity compared with pre-mining conditions.

With maize yields of 5.2 t/ha versus the regional average of 1 t/ha, Sovereign says the trials validate its progressive mining, backfilling and rehabilitation approach that will be integrated into the DFS.

"These outstanding rehabilitation results represent another critical milestone in our systematic approach to developing Kasiya into a Tier 1, low-carbon, sustainable operation.

“The empirical data from these trials directly informs our DFS rehabilitation strategy, further de-risking the project while demonstrating exceptional environmental, social and governance credentials,” says Sovereign Metals CEO Frank Eagar.

"Sovereign is fully committed to rehabilitating all disturbed land so it can be used for sustainable agricultural activities well beyond the mine life.

“We partnered with local farmers where we successfully tested several rehabilitation options to develop a model for agronomic-driven soil rehabilitation to be adopted by Sovereign during mining,” adds rehabilitation lead and environmental manager Marco Da Cunha.

Sovereign explains that the trials established a proven framework for community engagement that will scale across Kasiya's development.

For the trial, Sovereign secured a 10 ha site through a two-year lease from local farmers.

The company says it worked with 28 local farmers to remediate the soils and plant bamboo and maize crops, deliberately favouring local labour over advanced mechanisation to maximise local benefits.

This approach allowed both Sovereign and farmers to directly experience the rehabilitation trials and learn key lessons together, with the land to be returned to the farmers once the 2025/26 farming season harvest is collected.

“This collaborative approach has strengthened Sovereign's social licence by building long-term stakeholder support, creating a replicable model with a systematic approach ready for broader implementation across the project,” the company says.