ASX-listed exploration and development company Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) has confirmed the global warming potential of the Kasiya Graphite Project in Malawi is one of the ‘lowest’ in the world through an internal company analysis.
The company says this internal analysis was supplemented with an independent benchmarking study completed by UK-based consultancy Minviro which compared the global warming potential (GWP) of producing natural flake graphite at Kasiya against relevant current and future natural graphite projects.
The cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out by Minviro comparing current natural graphite production from China, which produces almost 80% of the world’s natural graphite, and proposed near-term production from Tanzania, which offers a regional benchmark against Kasiya in Malawi.
The LCA study also followed ISO 14067:2008 guidelines and was critically reviewed by a panel of 3 independent experts.
Commenting on the analysis, Sovereign Metals Managing Director Dr Julian Stephens says: “It is remarkable that our graphite co-product from planned rutile production at Kasiya will not only only be potentially one of the lowest cost flake graphite projects in the world but now can also be considered to have one of the one of the lowest global warming potentials of current and future graphite mines.
Producers and users of lithium-ion batteries are already taking note of the carbon footprint associated with the raw materials that feed into battery technology, so to be developing Kasiya at this time is truly exciting.”
“Producers and users of lithium-ion batteries are already taking note of the carbon footprint associated with the raw materials that feed into battery technology, so to be developing Kasiya at this time is truly exciting”
Sovereign reports the benchmarking study found that the total GWP of 0.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per tonne of natural flake graphite concentrate produced at Kasiya is significantly lower than the total GWP per tonne produced in Heilongjiang Province in China (1.2 tonnes CO2e) and the total GWP per tonne produced in Tanzania (0.6 tonnes CO2e).
The company says Minviro’s LCA has already previously shown the potential of Sovereign’s primary product of natural rutile to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the titanium pigment industry.
Each tonne of natural rutile produced at Kasiya is expected to have a GWP of only 0.1 tonnes CO2 equivalent which equates to a 95% to 97% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions (20 to 33 times less) compared to production of titania slag and synthetic rutile respectively, both of which are alternative titanium feedstocks produced by upgrading ilmenite via energy and carbon intensive processes.
Sovereign Metals is an ASX-listed exploration and development company focused on its flagship Kasiya Graphite Project in Malawi. The company’s objective is to develop a large-scale, long-life rutile operation to develop flake graphite for the lithium-ion battery sector.
The lithium-ion battery sector is the main emerging market for flake graphite, with ‘significant’ demand for the material expected over the coming years due to increasing demand for greater capacity batteries used in electric vehicles.
Images: Sovereign Metals Limited & iStock
