REG - Sovereign Metals Ltd - Kasiya's Graphite Warming Potential Amongst Lowest

Sovereign MetalsAnnouncement

15/03/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 9972S  Sovereign Metals Limited  15 March 2023

SOVEREIGN METALS LIMITED

 

NEWS RELEASE I 15 MARCH 2023

 

KASIYA'S GRAPHITE GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL TO BE AMONGST LOWEST IN THE WORLD

 ·               Independent benchmarking indicates Sovereign's graphite co-product from Kasiya
                 should have significantly lower global warming potential versus current and
                 developing natural graphite projects
 ·               Global warming potential (GWP) of producing one tonne of flake graphite
                 concentrate at Kasiya estimated to be 0.2 tonnes of CO(2) equivalent emissions
                 (CO(2)e)
 ·               Kasiya has the lowest GWP compared with currently known and planned future
                 natural graphite projects:
 o               Up to 60% lower than currently reported GWP of graphite producers and
                 developers, including suppliers to Tesla Inc.
 o               3x less polluting than proposed Tanzanian natural graphite production from
                 hard rock sources
 o               6x less polluting than current Chinese natural graphite production which
                 accounts for up to 80% of current global graphite supply
 ·               In 2022, the lithium-ion battery market became the biggest end-market for
                 natural flake graphite
 ·               Despite graphite being only a co-product to future potential rutile
                 production, Kasiya is still one of the largest and potentially lowest
                 production cost flake graphite resources in the world as it is hosted in soft
                 and friable saprolite material instead of hard rock
 ·               Mining is planned to be via hydro-methods (high-powered water monitors) with
                 the operation powered almost 100% by renewable sources (hydro-generated grid
                 and on-site solar power)
 ·               Previously, Sovereign had announced that its primary product of natural rutile
                 is expected to have a GWP of only 0.1 tonnes CO(2)e - up to 97% lower than
                 alternative titanium feedstocks produced by upgrading ilmenite

 

Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX: SVM, AIM: SVML) (the Company or Sovereign) is
pleased to announce the combined results of internal company analysis,
supplemented with an independent benchmarking study by UK-based consultancy
Minviro Ltd (Minviro) which compared the global warming potential (GWP) of
producing natural flake graphite from the Kasiya Project (Kasiya or the
Project) against relevant current and future natural graphite projects.

 

The cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out by Minviro
comparing current natural graphite production from China which produces almost
80% of the world's natural graphite, and proposed near-term production from
Tanzania, which offers a regional benchmark against Kasiya in Malawi. The LCA
study followed ISO 14067:2008 guidelines and was critically reviewed by a
panel of three independent experts.

 

A number of graphite producers and explorers/developers have conducted their
own LCAs, with conclusions of a select number being made public. Kasiya's
graphite product currently has the lowest GWP of publicly reported current and
future potential graphite production.

 

The benchmarking study found that the total GWP of 0.2 tonnes CO(2)e per tonne
of natural flake graphite concentrate produced at Kasiya is significantly
lower than the total GWP per tonne produced in Heilongjiang Province, China
(1.2 tonnes CO(2)e) and the total GWP per tonne produced in Tanzania (0.6
tonnes CO(2)e).

 

Sovereign's Managing Director, Dr Julian Stephens, commented: "It is
remarkable that our graphite co-product from planned rutile production at
Kasiya will not only be potentially one of the lowest cost flake graphite
projects in the world but now can also be considered to have one of the lowest
global warming potentials of current and future graphite mines. Producers and
users of lithium-ion batteries are already taking note of the carbon footprint
associated with the raw materials that feed into battery technology - so to be
developing Kasiya at this time is truly exciting."

 

Minviro's LCA has already previously shown the potential for Sovereign's
primary product of natural rutile to significantly reduce the carbon footprint
of the titanium pigment industry.

 

Each tonne of natural rutile produced at Kasiya is expected to have a Global
Warming Potential of only 0.1 tonnes CO(2) eq., which equates to a 95% to 97%
reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions (20 to 33 times less) compared to
production of titania slag and synthetic rutile respectively - both of which
are alternative titanium feedstocks produced by upgrading ilmenite via energy
and carbon intensive processes.

 

ENQUIRIES

 

 Dr Julian Stephens (Perth)  Sam Cordin (Perth)  Sapan Ghai (London)

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

 +61(8) 9322 6322

 

 Nominated Adviser on AIM
 RFC Ambrian
 Bhavesh Patel / Andrew Thomson  +44 20 3440 6800

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

 Optiva Securities               +44 20 3137 1902
 Daniel Ingram
 Mariela Jaho
 Christian Dennis

 

Why is Kasiya's Graphite able to achieve such a low carbon-footprint?

 

The GWP for Kasiya's flake graphite product was based on information in the
Kasiya Scoping Study from December 2021. This was followed up with an Expanded
Scoping Study in June 2022 (see announcement here:
http://www.investi.com.au/api/announcements/svm/c6f18bca-8aa.pdf
(http://www.investi.com.au/api/announcements/svm/c6f18bca-8aa.pdf) ). The
significantly lower GWP for Kasiya graphite is due to the fact that it is
hosted in soft, friable saprolite material which will be mined via hydro
methods (high pressure water monitors) powered by renewable energy sources -
hydro power from the Malawi grid and on-site solar power. This is opposed to
the production in Heilongjiang Province, China where hard-rock ore requires
drilling, blasting, excavation, trucking, crushing, and grinding - overall
high CO(2)e activities.

 

About Kasiya's Graphite

 

The Kasiya discovery in central Malawi is the largest natural rutile deposit
and one of the largest flake graphite deposits in the world.

 

The lithium-ion battery sector is the main emerging market for flake graphite.
Greater capacity batteries, such as those required for electric vehicles, are
expected to drive significant demand for graphite over the coming years. It is
forecast the battery sector will become the largest graphite market segment by
2028.

 

Kasiya will be a simple and conventional operation using traditional and
well-developed processes used across the globe on numerous mineral sands and
graphite operations.

 

The proposed large-scale operation will process soft, friable mineralisation
that occurs from surface in an area with excellent access and water
availability. The Project has high quality surrounding infrastructure
including hydro-sourced grid power, bitumen roads and recently upgraded rail
lines connecting to the deep water of ports of Nacala and Beira on the Indian
Ocean.

 

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.

 

Competent Persons Statement

 

The information in this announcement that relates to the Mineral Resource
Estimate is extracted from the announcement dated 5 April 2022. The
announcement is available to view on 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 announcement; b) all material assumptions included in the
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 report have not been materially changed from the
announcement.

 

The information in this announcement that relates to Production Targets,
Processing, Infrastructure and Capital and Operating Costs, is extracted from
the announcement dated 16 December 2021 entitled 'Kasiya Scoping Study
Confirms Globally Significant Natural Rutile Project' (Announcement).
Sovereign confirms that: a) it is not aware of any new information or data
that materially affects the information included in the 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 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.

 

The information in this announcement that relates to Metallurgy is extracted
from the announcement dated 7 December 2021. The announcement is available to
view on 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 announcement; b) all
material assumptions included in the 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 report have not been
materially changed from the announcement.

 

To view this announcement in full, including all figures and illustrations,
please refer to
http://www.investi.com.au/api/announcements/svm/61a82ede-fa0.pdf
(http://www.investi.com.au/api/announcements/svm/61a82ede-fa0.pdf) .
 

 

 Table 1:  Kasiya Mineral Resource Estimate at 0.7% Rutile Cut-off
 Mineral Resource Category  Material Tonnes (millions)  Rutile          Rutile Tonnes (millions)  Total Contained Graphite (TGC)  TGC Tonnes (millions)  RutEq. Grade*

(%)
 (%)
 (%)
 Indicated                  662                         1.05%           6.9                       1.43%                           9.5                    1.76%
 Inferred                   1,113                       0.99%           11.0                      1.26%                           14.0                   1.61%
 Total                      1,775                       1.01%           18.0                      1.32%                           23.4                   1.67%

* RutEq. Formula: Rutile Grade x Recovery (98%) x Rutile Price (US$1,308/t) +
Graphite Grade x Recovery (62%) x Graphite Price (US$1,085/t) / Rutile Price
(US$1,308/t). All assumptions are taken from this Study ** Any minor summation
inconsistencies are due to rounding.

 

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