The initial scoping study on Sovereign Metals’ Kasiya rutile project, in Malawi, has confirmed a multi-decade operation providing a stable supply of rutile and graphite, while contributing significantly to the economy of Malawi, Soverign Metals revealed on March 15.

Kasiya is among the largest undeveloped rutile deposits in the world and is highly strategic in a market characterised by extreme supply deficit, the company said.

The scoping study demonstrated positive results, including a 12-million-tonne-a-year operation producing 122 000 t/y of rutile and 80 000 t/y of graphite a year over a 25-year mine life. 

Moreover, Sovereign is optimistic about the exceptional economics, tax benefits and the benefits that come from a large-scale operation with a low-cost profile resulting from the deposit's near-surface nature, grade and excellent existing infrastructure. It will also be a low-carbon operation, with the project to be powered entirely by renewables, such as hydro and solar power.

Sovereign said the initial scoping study demonstrated that Kasiya was a globally significant and strategic project with low capital costs and high returns, and that it was positioned as one of the world's best undeveloped titanium minerals projects.

The life-of-mine is currently based off only 38% of the drill defined mineralised footprint. Therefore, Sovereign said substantial additional resource growth was expected this year.

It believed that current global supply was declining, with very limited additional production in the pipeline. The severe structural supply deficit in natural rutile was therefore forecast by Sovereign to continue to widen in the medium to long term.

The company said it had received significant support from the government of Malawi for the development of the Kasiya project. It added that the supportive community would benefit from project development.

Sovereign said it was in the process of establishing relationships with offtakers.

THE PROJECT

The Kasiya project was touted by Sovereign as being an environmentally and socially sustainable operation to supply natural rutile that can displace carbon-, energy- and waste-intensive alternatives like synthetic rutile and titania slag.

The proposed large-scale operation will process soft, friable mineralisation mined from surface. The project has existing surrounding infrastructure including bitumen roads, a rail line connecting to the deep-water of Nacala on the Indian Ocean and hydro-sourced grid power.

The operation will primarily employ conventional hydro-mining to produce a slurry that is pumped to a wet concentration plant where the material is sized. A heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) is produced by processing the sand fraction through a series of gravity spirals. The HMC is then transferred to the dry mineral separation plant, where premium quality rutile is produced by electrostatic and magnetic separation.

Graphite-rich concentrate is collected from the gravity spirals and processed in a separate graphite flotation plant, producing a coarse-flake graphite product.

The rutile and graphite products will be trucked a short distance using existing bitumen roads to the Kanengo rail terminal, from where they will be railed using the Nacala Logistics Corridor to the deep-water Port of Nacala on the eastern seaboard of Mozambique.

Sovereign said Kasiya's low costs were achieved through the deposit size and grade, location and infrastructure.

Central Malawi has a strong set of existing infrastructure, including hydropower and an extensive sealed road network. Moreover, the Kasiya rutile project is located near the capital city of Lilongwe, providing access to a skilled workforce and industrial services.

The existing quality logistics route provided significant capital cost savings compared with many other undeveloped projects, Sovereign said.

It added that the soft, friable and high-grade mineralisation occurring from surface would result in a no-waste stripping requirement. Moreover, the amenability to hydro-mining meant that the mining cost component would remain relatively low.

Moreover, Sovereign reported a mineral resources estimate (MRE) upgrade, with more than 50% in the higher confidence indicated category.

The MRE upgrade was underpinned by results from core drilling, which confirmed the thick, continuous and high-grade nature of the deposit. The upgraded MRE contained about 3.1-million tonnes of rutile in the indicated category and about 2.8-million tonnes of rutile in the inferred category.

Drilling is ongoing.