REG - Sovereign Metals Ltd - Graphite Expert Appointed to Development Team

Sovereign MetalsAnnouncement

23/04/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 6211L  Sovereign Metals Limited  23 April 2024

NEWS RELEASE I 23 APRIL 2024

GRAPHITE EXPERT APPOINTED TO KASIYA DEVELOPMENT TEAM

·     Sovereign further strengthens owner's team through the appointment
of graphite and battery anode specialist consultant Dr Surinder Ghag as Chief
Technology Officer - Graphite

·      Dr Ghag is an expert metallurgist with 25 years of experience
across critical minerals including graphite and rutile

·      Sovereign is poised to become the global leader in natural flake
graphite production, a significant by-product of the Kasiya Rutile-Graphite
Project in Malawi

·   Dr Ghag's appointment further bolsters the world-class Sovereign Project
Development Team which is working alongside strategic investor Rio Tinto to
develop Kasiya

Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX:SVM; AIM:SVML) (the Company or Sovereign) is
pleased to announce the appointment of consultant Dr Surinder Ghag to
Sovereign's owner's team as Chief Technology Officer - Graphite. Dr Ghag will
assist Sovereign's graphite strategy in qualifying the graphite product from
its Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project (Kasiya or Project) for lithium-ion battery
anodes.

A highly qualified metallurgist, Dr Ghag brings 25 years of industry
experience including developing graphite test work programs, ore-to-anode
graphite strategies, anode plant feasibility studies, and project development
and commissioning. Recently, Dr Ghag was instrumental in developing an
environmentally friendly and commercially viable method for purifying
graphite, working alongside the Australian Government scientific research
entity CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation).
Prior to his work in graphite, Dr Ghag's work included process engineering at
various Australian mineral sands operations.

A major component of graphite sales agreements is customer qualification. As
Chief Technology Officer- Graphite, Dr Ghag will be responsible for designing
and delivering graphite downstream test work programs to be aligned with
graphite product development and qualification as Sovereign continues
discussions with battery anode processors, end-users, and potential future
offtake partners.

Upon the appointment, Managing Director Frank Eagar commented:

"I am pleased to welcome Dr Ghag as we continue to strengthen our owner's team
in preparation for project execution. Kasiya will deliver the world's lowest
cost, lowest carbon footprint graphite. Dr Ghag joining Sovereign will
significantly enhance our graphite metallurgical expertise and understanding
of the downstream market to translate Kasiya's bottom-of-the-cost curve
advantage into significant active anode market capture."

Previously reported initial characterisation test work on Kasiya's graphite
has indicated excellent suitability for use in lithium-ion batteries with high
purity and high crystallinity being the key features (see ASX announcement
from 8 June 2023: Kasiya Graphite Shows Excellent Suitability For Use in
Lithium Ion Batteries,
https://www.investi.com.au/api/announcements/svm/fe3830af-843.pdf
(https://www.investi.com.au/api/announcements/svm/fe3830af-843.pdf) ).

Additional spheronisation and purification testwork is presently underway at a
leading German graphite laboratory to validate key parameters at a larger
scale with results imminent.

Furthermore, Sovereign is currently undertaking a graphite bulk sampling
program to produce large quantities of flake graphite product for further
downstream test work and initial product qualification to support ongoing
discussions with battery anode processors, end-users, and potential future
offtake partners.

BACKGROUND TO KASIYA'S MARKET-LEADING GRAPHITE POTENTIAL

Kasiya is the world's largest known rutile (titanium) deposit hosting a
JORC-Compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 17.9Mt. It is also one of
the largest known flake graphite resources with a MRE of 24.4Mt.

Sovereign's Prefeasibility Study (PFS) confirmed Kasiya as a potential major
critical minerals project with an extremely low CO(2) footprint delivering
significant long-term volumes of natural rutile (the highest-grade, purest,
natural titanium feedstock) and graphite (a key component of an electric
vehicle battery) while generating significant economic returns. Both titanium
and natural graphite are critical to several of the world's economies as well
as crucial to decarbonisation solutions required to meet "Net-Zero" and other
targets set by policymakers.

The PFS confirmed Kasiya's potential to be the world's largest natural
graphite producer at 244kt per annum of graphite concentrate. On an
incremental cost basis, Kasiya would also be the world's lowest-cost graphite
producer at US$182 per tonne (FOB Nacala).

In June 2023, downstream test work on Kasiya's graphite demonstrated it to
have superior qualities, showing excellent suitability for use in lithium-ion
batteries. In July 2023, Rio Tinto invested A$40.4 million in Sovereign
resulting in an initial 15% shareholding. Under the Investment Agreement,
Sovereign and Rio Tinto will work together to qualify Kasiya's graphite
product with a particular focus on supplying the spherical purified graphite
segment of the lithium-ion battery anode market.

 

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

 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. The original announcement is available to view
on 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 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.

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 original announcement.

 Ore Reserve for the Kasiya Deposit
 Classification  Tonnes     Rutile Grade  Contained Rutile      Graphite Grade (TGC) (%)  Contained Graphite  RutEq. Grade*

(Mt)
(%)
(Mt)
(Mt)
 (%)
 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 the PFS ** Any minor summation
inconsistencies are due to rounding

 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.

 

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