Industrial scale concentrator to be installed at Sovereign Metals’ Lilongwe testing facility for bulk sampling
Spiral throughput capacity of up to 10 tonnes per hour of ore from Kasiya for graphite and rutile sample preparation
Final graphite concentrate for bulk sample battery anode testwork advancing
Special Report: Sovereign Metals is installing an industrial-scale concentrator at its expanded lab and testing facility to pump out 10 tonnes of ore per hour from its world-class Kasiya project for graphite and rutile sample preparation.
Backed by Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), which acquired a strategic 15% stake in Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) mid-last year, Kasiya is the world’s largest rutile deposit and second-largest flake graphite deposit with a 1.8 billion tonne resource grading at 1% rutile and 1.4% graphite.
A pre-feasibility study has Kasiya pegged to produce 222,000tpa of rutile and 244,000tpa of natural graphite across a 25-year mine life.
That would make it one of the biggest producers in the world.
Spiral concentrator in final stages of testing
On the back of appointing graphite and battery anode specialist consultant Dr Surinder Ghag as its chief technology officer, SVM is in the final stages of installing and commissioning a spiral concentrator containing industrial-scale MG12 spiral equipment at its laboratory and testing facility in Lilongwe, Malawi.
This important piece of kit has a throughput capacity of up to 10 tonnes of ore per hour and is identical in size and scale to that designed in the PFS, allowing SVM to expedite its graphite commercialisation strategy.
It will enable the preparation of rutile concentrate and graphite circuit feed from Kasiya at a bulk scale.
The graphite circuit feed will be sent to specialised laboratories where flotation, purification, spheronisation and coating testwork for the battery anode segment will take place in line with SVM’s strategy to commercialise Kasiya’s graphite by-product.
The spiral installation project is led by SVM’s head of project development Paul Marcos, who before joining the company in 2021 had spent over 10 years working on Base Resources’ (ASX:BSE) projects with Ausenco and Base’s owner’s team.
Marcos and Dr Ghag – who will be responsible for graphite testwork programs and product qualification – will help drive Kasiya’s product to market.
SVM MD Frank Eagar says the intellectual property that Dr Ghag and Mr Marcos bring to Sovereign has meant that the company can expand and expedite its graphite commercialisation strategy significantly.
“The infrastructure, along with the ability to provide large amounts of graphite concentrate to the lithium-ion battery industry for battery anode product qualification, offers Sovereign a big advantage,” Eagar says.
“With a world-class team in place and alongside our strategic investors, Rio Tinto, Kasiya is moving ahead at a considerable pace.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Sovereign Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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