REG - Sovereign Metals Ltd - Dry Mining Trial Successfully Completed

Sovereign MetalsAnnouncement

25/07/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 7814X  Sovereign Metals Limited  25 July 2024

NEWS RELEASE I 25 JULY 2024

DRY MINING TRIAL SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED AT PILOT PHASE TEST PIT

·   Pilot Phase dry mining trial confirms Kasiya can be efficiently mined
using standard mobile excavators and trucks, demonstrating operational
alternatives as part of ongoing PFS Optimisation Study

·     Test pit mined as planned and on schedule to a depth of 20 metres,
excavating approximately 170,000 bench cubic metres

·   Simple and efficient dry mining undertaken with free-dig and soft,
friable nature of the Kasiya orebody confirming no drilling or blasting
required for excavation

·   Ore extracted with zero strip ratio successfully stockpiled with no
requirement to crush or grind prior to use as processing plant feed

·    Hydraulic mining trials to begin in coming weeks with six million
litre water storage pond currently filled to 80% capacity

·   Pilot Phase continues to progress as part of ongoing PFS Optimisation
Study with oversight from Sovereign-Rio Tinto Technical Committee

·

Classification 2.2: This announcement includes Inside Information

Figure 1: Kasiya Pilot Phase Test Pit mined to 20 metres depth

 

Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX: SVM; AIM: SVML; OTCQX: SVMLF) (Sovereign or the
Company) is pleased to announce that the dry mining trial is now complete with
a test pit successfully excavated as part of the ongoing Pilot Mining and Land
Rehabilitation Program (Pilot Phase) at the Company's Kasiya Rutile-Graphite
Project (Kasiya) in Malawi.

The test pit covers the planned area of 120 metres by 110 metres and has been
excavated to a depth of 20 metres through the weathered ore at Kasiya. This
confirms Kasiya ore can be efficiently mined using conventional dry-mining
techniques and a simple mobile excavator fleet. The pit is accessible through
a 10-metre-wide ramp constructed at appropriate geotechnical angles.

Managing Director, Frank Eagar commented: "Completion of the test pit at this
scale marks a significant achievement. The mining, hydrology and geotechnical
data collected throughout is invaluable in our understanding of the orebody
and the simplicity of a potential dry-mining operation at Kasiya. We now look
forward to the next steps of the pilot phase including the hydraulic mining
trial, cyclone separation of ore, backfilling of test pits and soil
rehabilitation."

For the test pit, the dry mining fleet consisted of four excavators, 20 trucks
and a support fleet including two bulldozers and a motor grader. The
saprolite-hosted mineralisation at Kasiya is largely homogenous and has
relatively consistent physical properties throughout the 1.8 billion tonnes
Mineral Resource Estimate. Data collected from the pilot phase confirmed that
no drilling, blasting, crushing, grinding or milling will be required prior to
stockpiling material for processing into rutile and graphite products; an
indication of potentially lower mining costs and a lower carbon footprint
comparable to hard rock deposits.

Figure 2: Kasiya mining and front-end processing vs. hard rock peers

Figures 3 & 4: Simple excavator fleet mining the test pit

 

Approximately 170,000 bench cubic metres of material has been mined as part of
the test-pit program. Steady-state operations envisage 24 million tonnes of
material being mined annually. The test pit material will be processed through
cyclones on-site for deposition testwork.

Figure 5: Dry mining plant feed stockpiled without any crushing or grinding

 

Figure 6: Pilot Phase Water Storage Pond almost at capacity with
rehabilitation demonstration pits in background

 

The main pit will be backfilled with dry material, while material from
hydraulic mining will be used to fill rehabilitation pits as part of the
rehabilitation phase.

A temporary water storage pond has been constructed and sealed using natural
clay from excavated material, minimising the use of conventional plastic
lining. The pond is being filled via eight boreholes delivering water to site
and is nearing its capacity of six million litres. Water from the storage pond
will initially be used for the hydraulic mining stage.

 

Figure 7: Pilot Phase Site end of July 2024

 

Background to the Pilot Phase

 

The Pilot Phase is a critical part of Kasiya's optimisation study; empirical
data generated from the Pilot Phase will determine optimal project excavation,
material handling, processing, backfilling and rehabilitation approaches. The
Pilot Phase is being undertaken on a 9.9-hectare site and includes the
following activities:

 

1.    Test Pit: A test pit of 120m by 110m excavated to a depth of 20m,
allowing optimisation of hydraulic and dry mining excavation methods.

2.    Stockpiles: The excavated material will be temporarily stored in 4
stockpiles, namely all dry mining material, wet slimes (in a pond) and two
sizes of sand fractions from the hydraulic mining.

3.    Backfilling and Grading: The material will be placed back into the
pit, and all areas will be graded.

4.    Rehabilitation Demonstration: Sovereign will construct eight small
rehabilitation demonstration pits covering a combined area of 100m by 130m.
These will be used for water storage, excavated material storage, and
demonstration of multiple rehabilitation approaches.

5.    Temporary Laydown Areas: Four areas will be used as temporary laydown
areas, offices, and associated infrastructure.

6.    Communication: The Pilot Phase will be an educational opportunity for
Project stakeholders. Sovereign will undertake a series of stakeholder visits
and consultations for this purpose.

Sovereign's objective is to restore land after mining to conditions that
achieve the same or better agricultural yields than existing land uses and
crop yields. The Pilot Phase will demonstrate to local communities the
successful rehabilitation of land for agricultural use post-mining; land
rehabilitation will form an integral component of the ongoing optimisation
study. Results will also allow Sovereign to determine optimal excavation and
backfill approaches, providing critical information for the upcoming
Definitive Feasibility Study.

 

ENQUIRIES

 Frank Eagar (South Africa/Malawi)  Sam Cordin (Perth)     Sapan Ghai (London)

Managing Director
Business Development
CCO

 +27 21 065 1890                    +61(8) 9322 6322       +44 207 478 3900

 

 Nominated Adviser on AIM and Joint Broker
 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP             +44 20 3470 0470
 Ewan Leggat

 Charlie Bouverat

 Joint Brokers
 Stifel                                     +44 20 7710 7600
 Varun Talwar
 Ashton Clanfield

 Berenberg                                  +44 20 3207 7800
 Matthew Armitt
 Jennifer Lee

 Buchanan                                   + 44 20 7466 5000

Competent Person Statement

The information in this announcement that relates to the Mineral Resource
Estimate is extracted from an announcement dated 5 April 2023 entitled 'Kasiya
Indicated Resource Increased by over 80%' which is available to view at
www.sovereignmetals.com.au (http://www.sovereignmetals.com.au) and is based
on, and fairly represents information compiled by Mr Richard Stockwell, a
Competent Person, who is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists
(AIG). Mr Stockwell is a principal of Placer Consulting Pty Ltd, an
independent consulting company. Sovereign confirms that a) it is not aware of
any new information or data that materially affects the information included
in the original announcement; b) all material assumptions included in the
original announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed; and
c) the form and context in which the relevant Competent Persons' findings are
presented in this announcement have not been materially changed from the
original announcement.

 Kasiya Total Indicated + Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate at 0.7% rutile
 cut-off grade
 Classification  Resource  Rutile Grade  Contained Rutile  Graphite Grade (TGC) (%)  Contained Graphite

(Mt)
(%)
(Mt)
(Mt)
 Indicated        1,200    1.0%          12.2              1.5%                      18.0
 Inferred         609      0.9%          5.7               1.1%                      6.5
 Total            1,809    1.0%          17.9              1.4%                      24.4

 

Forward Looking Statement

This release may include forward-looking statements, which may be identified
by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "projects", "plans",
and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on
Sovereign's expectations and beliefs concerning future events. Forward looking
statements are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors,
many of which are outside the control of Sovereign, which could cause actual
results to differ materially from such statements. There can be no assurance
that forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Sovereign makes no
undertaking to subsequently update or revise the forward-looking statements
made in this release, to reflect the circumstances or events after the date of
that release.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this
announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside
information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

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