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Graphite planned to be produced as a co-product from the Kasiya rutile operation is estimated to sit at the lowest end of the global flake graphite cost curve |
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As one of the world’s largest flake graphite deposits, Kasiya has potential for a dominant market position due to production scale of a coarse flake, high purity and highly crystalline product which should be suitable for lithium-ion batteries and wider traditional industrial uses |
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Kasiya’s graphite flake size distribution compares favourably to industry peers suggesting potential to achieve a high graphite basket price |
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Independent Life Cycle Assessment Study demonstrates Kasiya’s high quality natural graphite concentrate should have a significantly lower carbon footprint than Chinese-produced natural graphite |
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o China currently produces over 75% of the world’s natural graphite, almost 80% of the world’s synthetic graphite and 100% of the world’s natural graphite anodes used in lithium-ion batteries |
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o Each tonne of graphite produced from Kasiya is expected to have a Global Warming Potential of only 0.2 tonnes CO2e which represents 5x less greenhouse gas emissions compared to natural graphite produced in the Heilongjiang Province, China |
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Recent independent studies published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology estimates global warming potential of synthetic graphite to be 20.6 t CO2e i.e., 103x that estimated for Kasiya’s natural graphite |
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Updated Scoping Study for Kasiya on track and due for completion shortly |
Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX:SVM; AIM:SVML) (the Company or Sovereign) is pleased to report recent analysis of Kasiya Rutile Project’s (Kasiya) graphite co-product, one of the critical raw materials contained with the Kasiya deposit.
Natural graphite concentrate would be produced as a co-product from Kasiya, the world’s largest rutile deposit. Benchmarking of characteristics of Kasiya’s natural graphite demonstrate that it can be produced in line with the 2021 Scoping Study with:
· one of the lowest potential production costs globally
· extremely low carbon footprint versus hard-rock operations or synthetic graphite production
· favourable flake size distribution suitable for a wide range of end uses including feedstock for the lithium-ion battery sector – technology crucial to tackling global climate change.
Sovereign’s Managing Director, Dr Julian Stephens commented: “Not only is Kasiya the world’s largest rutile deposit and one of the largest flake-graphite resources, but our latest graphite industry benchmarking also demonstrates the potential for Kasiya to be a globally dominant supplier and low-cost flake graphite producer at scale. Importantly, the very low graphite production costs at Kasiya should allow Sovereign to compete aggressively on price point across global graphite markets.“
ENQUIRIES
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Dr Julian Stephens (Perth) +61(8) 9322 6322 |
Sam Cordin (Perth) |
Sapan Ghai (London)
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Nominated Adviser on AIM |
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RFC Ambrian |
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Bhavesh Patel / Andrew Thomson |
+44 20 3440 6800 |
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Joint Brokers |
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Berenberg |
+44 20 3207 7800 |
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Matthew Armitt |
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Jennifer Lee |
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Varun Talwar |
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Optiva Securities |
+44 20 3137 1902 |
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Daniel Ingrams |
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Mariela Jaho |
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Christian Dennis |