REG - Sovereign Metals Ltd - Experienced Social Specialist Firm Appointed

Sovereign MetalsAnnouncement

23/01/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 5485A  Sovereign Metals Limited  23 January 2024

NEWS RELEASE I 23 JANUARY 2024

HIGHLY EXPERIENCED SOCIAL SPECIALIST FIRM APPOINTED TO ASSIST IN ADVANCING
KASIYA

·     African-based social specialist consultancy, SocialEssence has
been appointed to lead social and community development programs for Sovereign
in Malawi

·    SocialEssence joins Sovereign's Owners Team and will design,
implement, and manage several social and community initiatives which will feed
into the DFS and permitting requirements

·    SocialEssence will build upon existing relationships cultivated over
the last decade, between Sovereign and highly supportive local communities at
Kasiya

·   SocialEssence has a strong and successful track record of implementing
social responsibility programs across southern Africa, including at First
Quantum Minerals' Zambian operations Trident and Kansanshi, where over 7,000
farmers participate in a conservation farming program, which was initiated and
led by SocialEssence's current Livelihood Specialist.

·   The appointment aligns with the Company's objective to develop a
socially responsible and sustainable operation which will provide significant
long term and sustainable benefits to local communities.

 

Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX:SVM; AIM:SVML) (the Company or Sovereign) is
pleased to announce the appointment of SocialEssence (Pty) Ltd
(SocialEssence), a specialist social performance consultancy, who will assist
in the continued development of the Company's stakeholder relations, social
performance objectives and its Community and Social Responsibility (CSR)
framework.

Sovereign has engaged SocialEssence to design and execute social performance
activities during the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) phase. Founder, Mr
Garth Lappeman, has over 16 years of on the ground social performance planning
and implementation experience in accordance with IFC Performance Standards and
World Bank Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines. SocialEssence has been
active in a number of countries working on projects in Angola, Botswana,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, Panama, Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Northern Sudan, Tanzania,
Uzbekistan, and Zambia.

Most notably, in Zambia, SocialEssence's Director was involved from early
exploration through to steady state production of First Quantum Minerals Ltd's
(First Quantum Minerals) Trident operations, which includes the Sentinel
Copper Mine which is of similar scale to Sovereign's Kasiya project. Mr
Lappeman was responsible for implementing and managing social and community
initiatives for First Quantum Minerals as it established its large-scale
commercial operations.

Managing Director and CEO, Mr Frank Eagar commented: "The SocialEssence
exemplary track record and implementation experience aligns with our
objectives of establishing long lasting and sustainable community
relationships well ahead of project implementation. The conservation farming
program implemented by SocialEssence's leaders in Zambia has stood the test of
time and has over 7,000 participating farmers. We will continue to build out
our owner's team and capabilities while we work through Kasiya's optimisation
with Rio Tinto."

SocialEssence will:

·      prepare Kasiya's Social Impact Assessment and Management Plan for
the DFS and permitting;

·  design, implement and manage social performance activities including
stakeholder engagement, development of key relationships;

·     prove the feasibility of critical social performance measures
(including early local content, and piloting of livelihood restoration
programs, and piloting of rehabilitation activities to restore land for
agricultural use); and

·      align with the Company's ESG Framework.

 

ENQUIRIES

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

Managing Director
+61(8) 9322 6322
+44 207 478 3900

 +61(8) 9322 6322

 

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

 Charlie Bouverat

 Harry Davies-Ball

 Joint Brokers
 Berenberg                                  +44 20 3207 7800
 Matthew Armitt
 Jennifer Lee

 Buchanan                                   + +44 20 7466 5000

ABOUT SOCIALESSENCE

SocialEssence provides a full range of social performance management services
and tools to clients in the mining, renewable energy and infrastructure
development sectors in Africa and Central Asia. SocialEssence is distinguished
from other consultancies by the practical implementation experience of its
staff and associates, enabling best-practice solutions that are practical. The
Director and Founder, Mr Garth Lappeman, is a high-quality resettlement and
social performance, development, and communications practitioner with a 16
year track record of practical on-site experience in social impact and risk
management, particularly in resettlement and land acquisition. Mr Lappeman has
worked on over 40 projects globally on social performance and resettlement.
His most noteworthy project was an ~600-household, ~2,000-farmer, acquisition
of 439km(2) of traditional land for a large greenfield mine and town
development in Zambia.

The social performance services have been developed through 16 years of
on-the-ground experience of planning and implementation in accordance with the
IFC Performance Standards, World Bank Environmental, Health and Safety
Guidelines, International Labour Organisation Standards, Voluntary Principles
on Security and Human Rights, and International Human Rights Conventions and
Frameworks.

SocialEssence's consultants, and network of associates have experience in
projects in these countries: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Panama, Uganda,
Sierra Leone, South Africa, Northern Sudan, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, and Zambia.

Social Essence have successfully implemented a wide range of livelihood
restoration and improvement projects in sub-Saharan Africa including
agricultural-based, enterprise-based, employment-based and
natural-resource-based livelihood restoration and improvement projects. These
include conservation farming, small-scale horticulture, poultry farming
(broiler chicken and village chicken), holistic livestock farming,
village-banking, business formalisation, training and micro-loan programs,
vocational training (upgrading government trade schools with mining training
facilities), sustainable forest and fisheries management projects. The most
successful of these, and the one most applicable to the project and it's
impacts and objectives, is conservation farming.

ABOUT SOVEREIGN

Sovereign is focused on the development of its Kasiya project in Malawi.
Kasiya is the largest natural rutile deposit and second largest flake graphite
deposit in the world. Sovereign is aiming to develop a low-CO(2) and
sustainable operation to supply highly sought-after natural rutile and
graphite to global markets.

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

Delivering compelling economics with a post-tax NPV(8) of US$1.6 Billion and
post-tax IRR of 28%, this long-life, multi-generational operation was modelled
to initially generate over US$16 Billions of revenue and provide an average
annual EBITDA of US$415 Million per annum.

Kasiya's PFS modelling was limited to only 25 years meaning substantial
production rate and mine life upside exists, with an initial Probable Ore
Reserves declared of 538Mt, only representing 30% of the total Mineral
Resource.

Competent Person Statement

The information in this announcement that relates to Production Targets, Ore
Reserves, Processing, Infrastructure and Capital Operating Costs, Metallurgy
(rutile and graphite) is extracted from an announcement dated 28 September
2023 entitled 'Kasiya Pre-Feasibility Study Results' which is available to
view at www.sovereignmetals.com.au (http://www.sovereignmetals.com.au) .
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 and technical parameters underpinning the
Production Target, and related forecast financial information derived from the
Production Target 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 presentation have not been
materially modified from the Announcement.

 Proved    -      -      -       -      -    -
 Probable   538   1.03%  5.5     1.66%  8.9  2.00%
 Total      538   1.03%  5.5     1.66%  8.9  2.00%

* RutEq. Formula: Rutile Grade x Recovery (100%) x Rutile Price (US$1,484/t) +
Graphite Grade x Recovery (67.5%) x Graphite Price (US$1,290/t) / Rutile Price
(US$1,484/t). All assumptions are taken from this Study ** Any minor summation
inconsistencies are due to rounding.

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.

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