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ASX-listed Sovereign Metals, which is prospecting for rutile and graphite at Kasiya in Lilongwe, says wide-spaced regional reconnaissance drilling outside its current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) area, has identified an 8km extension of mineralisation to the south, which remains open along strike and at depth.

MD for Sovereign Metals, Frank Eagar, says in a Press Statement that the results are testament to the world-class scale of the Kasiya deposit and demonstrate the potential for a future increase of the MRE for Kasiya, which is already the largest natural rutile resource, and second largest flake graphite resource, in the world.

Kasiya’s current MRE of 1.8 Billion tonnes, at 1.0% rutile and 1.4% graphite, comprises broad and contiguous zones of high-grade rutile and graphite that occur across an area of over 201km2.

Eagar says: “These drilling results re-confirm the significant scale of the Kasiya deposit with the strike now stretching over 37km long.”

“Sovereign continues to test the extent of regional mineralisation via low-cost hand-auger drilling, which has the potential to increase the already very large Kasiya resource.”

Sovereign reports that all newly defined mineralisation remains open at depth, due to the limitations of the hand-auger drilling method, but are expected to continue to the Saprock boundary, normally between 20 and 30m vertical metres from surface. The multiple mineralised zones identified remain open along strike, both to the north and south including;

· 14m @ 1.03%, including 2m @ 1.35%, rutile from surface

· 17m @ 1.01%, including 2m @ 1.42%, rutile from surface

· 9m @ 0.93%, including 2m @1.58%, rutile from surface

· 12m @ 1.31%, including 3m @ 1.97%, rutile from surface

· 13m @ 1.02%, including 3m @ 1.16%, rutile from surface

 · 12m @ 1.02% rutile & 4.5% graphite, incl. 2m @ 1.41% rutile, from surface

Results of the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) released in late 2023 demonstrated Kasiya’s potential to become the world’s largest rutile producer at an average of 222kt per annum and one of the world’s largest natural graphite producers outside of China at an average of 244kt per annum, based on an initial 25 year life-of-mine (LOM).

The Kasiya PFS indicated compelling economics with a post-tax NPV8 of US$1.6 Billion and a post-tax IRR of 28%. This long-life, multi-generational operation was modelled to initially generate over US$16 Billion of revenue and provide an average annual EBITDA of US$415 Million. The PFS modelling was limited to 25 years with initial Probable Ore Reserves declared of 538Mt, representing only 30% of the total MRE.

The PFS confirmed Kasiya as a major critical minerals project with an extremely low carbon footprint, delivering major volumes of natural rutile and graphite, while generating significant future economic returns to Malawi.

The PFS indicates that Kasiya will be a simple and conventional operation employing traditional and well-developed processes used across the globe on mineral sands and graphite operations.

The proposed large-scale operation will process soft, friable mineralisation mined from surface. The project has excellent surrounding infrastructure including bitumen roads, a high-quality rail line connecting to the deep-water port of Nacala on the Indian Ocean, and hydro-sourced grid power.

Graphite co-product

Kasiya’s graphite co-product Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is 1.8Bt at 1.4% graphite, containing  24.4Mt of graphite, which makes it one of the largest natural graphite deposits globally. 

The PFS indicates that graphite rich pre-concentrate will be produced from the light fraction of the gravity spiral tails, and processed in a separate graphite flotation plant to produce a high-quality flake graphite co-product. Because graphite will be a co-product from rutile production, it will have a very low production cost compared to graphite-only projects, as shown in the Project’s Expanded Scoping Study.

A very coarse-flake and high-grade graphite product, at 96% Total Graphite Concentrate (TGC) can be produced via the simple flowsheet. This product has over 60% of  large to super-jumbo fractions (+180mic) with overall graphite recovery from the raw sample of 62%.

“As well as being very coarse flake, the Kasiya graphite is also highly crystalline and of high purity. These are both important features required for use in lithium-ion battery anodes. The high crystallinity means that the graphite will have high electrical conductivity – a key requirement. High purity means the material will be easier to upgrade to 99.95% TGC, the minimum requirement for lithium-ion battery anodes,” says Eagar.

Malawi President highlights Kasiya in SONA

Meanwhile, Malawi’s President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has hailed progress of the Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project.

Chakwera said in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) presented in the National Assembly at the opening ceremony of the 2024/25 Budget Meeting: “Madam Speaker, my progress report on wealth creation efforts in mining would not be complete if I omitted the progress on the Kasiya Rutile Project.”

“As I speak, Sovereign Metals Limited and Rio Tinto have entered into a partnership, and now the project is undergoing a Definitive Feasibility Study and an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, which mark a crucial step in advancing the Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project in Malawi.”

“When all these operations begin to yield a harvest, it will be a game changer for Malawi not only economically, but also geopolitically, for we have every reason to expect that we will become less dependent on outsiders for any resources to build our roads, our hospitals, our bridges, our schools, our universities, our airports, and more. The work we have done this year to restructure the sector is great progress, and we will build on it to keep our economic recovery going.”

Sustainable and ESG driven

Eagar says that sustainability is a vital element of Sovereign’s strategy for Kasiya, such that the company is committed to making informed choices that improve its corporate governance, financial strength, operational efficiency, environmental stewardship, community engagement and resource management.

The project aims to meet the requirements of international guidelines and standards, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability (IFC 2012), the World Bank Group Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines (WBG 2007), the Equator Principles (Equator Principles Association, 2020) and the International Council on Mining & Metals Principles.

Eagar says the Kasiya Project will be designed considering both the Equator principles and Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions under the Green House Gas protocol, so that the design meets high Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards from the outset.

“Access to hydro-generated grid power and a solar power system to be installed on site will ensure low carbon power supply for the project, and the use of predominantly rail rather than road transport for rutile and graphite products will further help give the mine a low carbon footprint,” says Eagar.

The planned operation contemplates a closed, zero discharge process water circuit, and tailings storage facility designed for chemically benign tailings which will be rehabilitated and restored progressively.

Meanwhile, Sovereign continues to undertake several initiatives to assist in the development of Malawi and its local communities.

“The Company aims to become an industry leader in social responsibility having successfully worked with communities in Malawi over the last decade who remain highly supportive and are well positioned to benefit from the development of new mining projects.

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