Sovereign Metals #SVML – Graphite Expert Appointed to Kasiya Development Team

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).

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 CO₂footprint 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.

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