REG - Sovereign Metals Ltd - Infill Drilling Program to Upgrade Kasiya Resource

Sovereign MetalsAnnouncement

12/08/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 0492A  Sovereign Metals Limited  12 August 2024

NEWS RELEASE I 12 AUGUST 2024

INFILL DRILLING PROGRAM TO UPGRADE KASIYA RESOURCE

·    Infill drilling commenced with focus on southern Kasiya, which
intends to provide ore feed for first eight years of production

·   Program aims to upgrade Mineral Resource Estimate in this area from
Indicated to Measured category, allowing conversion of Ore Reserves from
Probable to Proven category

·      Drilling program designed by Sovereign and overseen by the Rio
Tinto-Sovereign Technical Committee

·      Aircore and hand auger drilling will be supported by push tube
and diamond core drilling

·      Resource upgrade expected in early 2025

·

Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX: SVM; AIM: SVML; OTCQX: SVMLF) (Sovereign or the
Company) is pleased to announce it has commenced an infill drilling program at
its Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project (Kasiya or Project) in Malawi to support
ongoing technical studies.

Aircore, supported by push tube/diamond core and hand auger drilling, will
upgrade part of the current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) planned for Stage
1 production from the Indicated to the Measured category under the JORC (2012)
Code.

The drilling is planned to infill the southern part of Kasiya, specifically
around previously designated pits proposed to provide ore feed in the first
eight years of the Project's planned production schedule. Ore Reserves in
these areas are expected to convert from the Probable to Proven category.

Managing Director, Frank Eagar commented: "Our infill drilling program will
target areas of Kasiya where we expect the first seven to eight years of
production to come from. The program design was overseen by the Rio
Tinto-Sovereign Technical Committee, which again illustrates the benefits of
the Rio Tinto partnership since their initial investment in July 2023."

An offset 200x200 metre program has been designed (see Figure 1), which will
result in an average drill spacing of 142 metres. The offset spacing has the
advantage of allowing analysis of geology and grade continuity in both
orthogonal and diagonal directions. The drilling program will consist of:

1.    250+ aircore holes for over 5,000 metres, with an average depth of 20
metres

2.    250+ hand auger holes for over 750 metres, with an average depth of 3
metres

3.    30 push tube / diamond core holes providing samples for geotechnical
analysis and verification sampling with an average depth of 20 metres

4.    Several 3-metre-deep pits to obtain detailed rutile grade information
from the upper profile and provide additional geotechnical information

All samples will have both rutile and graphite assayed by offsite laboratories
in South Africa. Results of the drilling program and subsequent Resource
upgrade are expected in early 2025.

Kasiya is already the world's largest rutile deposit and second-largest flake
graphite deposit, with over 66% of the current MRE in the Indicated category.

Figure 1: Planned aircore drill holes (blue dots) over Kasiya pit shells;
pilot site in Kingfisher pit shown for scale (black outline)

 

 Table 1:  Ore Reserve for the Kasiya Deposit
 Classification  Tonnes  Rutile Grade  Contained Rutile  Graphite Grade (TGC) (%)  Contained Graphite

(Mt)
(%)
(Mt)
(Mt)
 Proved          -       -             -                 -                         -
 Probable        538     1.03%         5.5               1.66%                     8.9
 Total           538     1.03%         5.5               1.66%                     8.9

 

 Table 2: 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

Any minor summation inconsistencies are due to rounding

Figure 2: Kasiya map showing rutile grades of the upper blocks of the current
MRE block model

The current MRE defined broad and contiguous zones of high-grade rutile and
graphite, which occur across a very large area of over 201km(2) (Figure 2).
Rutile mineralisation is concentrated in laterally extensive, near-surface,
flat "blanket" style bodies in areas where the weathering profile is preserved
and not significantly eroded. Graphite is depleted near the surface, with
grades improving at depths generally >4m to the base of the saprolite zone,
which averages about 22m.

Sovereign's 2022 drill program at Kasiya used push tube core holes to in-fill
and convert Inferred mineralisation into the Indicated category. The
consistency and robustness of the geology allowed for an efficient conversion
of this previously Inferred material on a near-identical one-for-one basis to
the Indicated category.

Figure 3: Push tube drilling in action at Kasiya during 2022

Incentive Securities

Subject to shareholder approval, the Company is proposing to issue the
following performance rights to Directors (and others (non-PDMR)) following a
remuneration review post 30 June 2024:

                                                 Tranche 1 - DFS Milestone (expiring 31 October 2025)  Tranche 2 - Grant of Mining Licence Milestone  Tranche 3 - Final Investment Decision Milestone

(expiring 31 March 2026)
(expiring 30 June 2026)
 Benjamin Stoikovich                             300,000                                               300,000                                        400,000

(Director - PDMR)
 Frank Eagar                                     300,000                                               300,000                                        400,000

(Director - PDMR)
 Other key employees and consultants (non-PDMR)  675,000                                               675,000                                        900,000

 

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 Exploration Results and
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.

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.

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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