Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) has begun a graphite bulk sample program to produce ‘larger’ volumes of natural graphite from its Kasiya Project in Malawi.
The company says samples will be used for downstream testwork and product qualifications for the lithium-ion battery sector.
Sovereign has constructed a ‘bespoke’ laboratory in Lilongwe, Malawi, to process exploration drill samples for rutile and graphite determination. The laboratory has allowed the company to efficiently process ‘large’ numbers of exploration samples at a fraction of the cost and time versus sending raw samples directly to commercial laboratories in South Africa and Australia.
To date, Sovereign has processed over 16,000 samples from the Kasiya rutile-graphite deposit at the Lilongwe facility. This has resulted in the company reporting the largest natural rutile and second-largest flake graphite deposit in the world, delineated in just a 3-year period.
Commenting on the ongoing activities, Sovereign Metals Managing Director Dr Julian Stephens says: “Kasiya will potentially be 1 of the lowest-cost flake graphite projects in the world and is also estimated to have one of the lowest global warming potentials of any current and future graphite.
“Sovereign wants to be at the forefront of these critical mineral supply chains, and today’s announcement is another important step towards achieving that”
Sovereign wants to be at the forefront of these critical mineral supply chains, and today’s announcement is another important step towards achieving that.
The world’s economies need surety of supply for high-quality, low-carbon-footprint graphite suitable for use in lithium-ion batteries. Without graphite there is no electric vehicle revolution. The US, Japan, and the EU see it as a critical mineral and have allocated many billions of dollars towards securing graphite supply.”
Sovereign Metals is an exploration and development company focused on its Kasiya Project, which it claims has the potential to be 1 of the world’s lowest-cost and lowest-global-warming-potential sources of natural rutile and graphite.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Sovereign Metals Ltd
