REG - Sovereign Metals Ltd - Increased Graphite Bulk Sample Capacity

Sovereign MetalsAnnouncement

01/05/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 7261M  Sovereign Metals Limited  01 May 2024

NEWS RELEASE I 1 MAY 2024

SOVEREIGN TO INCREASE GRAPHITE BULK SAMPLE PREPARATION CAPACITY

·     Industrial scale spiral concentrator to be installed at
Sovereign's expanded laboratory and testing facility in Lilongwe in coming
weeks

·       Spiral throughput capacity of up to 10 tonnes per hour of ore
for graphite and rutile sample preparation

·     Installation and commissioning led by Sovereign's Head of Project
Development, Mr Paul Marcos, who previously worked for Base Resources on their
Kwale and Toliara projects and for Iluka Resources across various mineral
sands operations

·     Final graphite concentrate for bulk sample battery anode testwork
and qualification advancing under the supervision of Sovereign's Chief
Technology Officer - Graphite, Dr Surinder Ghag

·     Sovereign is targeting a market-leading position as the world's
largest and lowest-cost producer of rutile for the titanium industry, and
flake graphite for the lithium-ion battery market

·

Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX:SVM; AIM:SVML) (the Company or Sovereign) is
pleased to announce that following the appointment of graphite specialist Dr
Surinder Ghag as Chief Technology Officer - Graphite, the Company will be
increasing graphite pre-concentrate sample preparation from its existing
testing facility in Lilongwe, Malawi.

In the coming weeks, Sovereign will install and commission a spiral
concentrator containing industrial-scale MG12 spiral equipment at the
Company's laboratory and testing facility in Lilongwe, enabling the
preparation of rutile concentrate and graphite circuit feed from its Kasiya
Rutile-Graphite Project (Kasiya or Project) at a bulk scale. The graphite
circuit feed will be sent to specialised laboratories where flotation,
purification, spheronisation and coating testwork for the battery anode
segment will take place in line with Sovereign's strategy to commercialise
Kasiya's graphite by-product.

Managing Director Frank Eagar commented: "The intellectual property that Dr
Ghag and Mr Marcos bring to Sovereign has meant that we can expand and
expedite our graphite commercialisation strategy significantly. The
infrastructure, along with the ability to provide large amounts of graphite
concentrate to the lithium-ion battery industry for battery anode product
qualification, offers Sovereign a big advantage. With a world-class team in
place and alongside our strategic investors, Rio Tinto, Kasiya is moving ahead
at a considerable pace."

The spiral concentrator is currently in its final stages of testing at
engineering consultancy Paterson & Cooke's Cape Town laboratory, after
which it will be dispatched to Lilongwe, Malawi. The spiral is identical size
and scale to that designed in the Pre-feasibility Study flowsheet for the
Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project and will have a throughput capacity of up to 10
tonnes of ore per hour for sample preparation.

Sovereign's Head of Project Development, Mr Paul Marcos, has led the spiral
installation project. Mr Marcos has 30 years of mineral sands operations,
engineering, and consulting expertise. Before joining Sovereign in July 2021,
Mr Marcos spent over ten years working on Base Resources Limited (Base)
projects both in a design role with Ausenco and then on Base's owner's team.

Mr Marcos was involved with the original Kwale Project and then Kwale North
and Kwale Phase 2 Projects in Kenya and also the Toliara Project's Scoping,
Pre-Feasibility and Definitive Feasibility Studies in Madagascar. Between 1996
and 2004, Mr Marcos worked at major mineral sands producer Iluka Resources
Limited in a number of production, mineral processing and project development
roles.

Sovereign's newly appointed graphite specialist Chief Technology Officer -
Graphite, Dr Surinder Ghag, will be responsible for graphite testwork programs
and product qualification. A highly qualified metallurgist, Surinder brings
over 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.

Figure 1: Final stages of assembling the spiral plant at Paterson & Cooke,
South Africa

 

Classification 2.2: This announcement includes Inside Information

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

 

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.

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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