Name of the Project
Kasiya rutile/graphite project.

Location
Central Malawi.

Project Owner/s
Developer of mineral resource projects in Malawi, Sovereign Metals, and global mining group Rio Tinto.

Project Description
An optimised prefeasibility study (OPFS) announced in January 2025 has reconfirmed Kasiya as a leading global future supplier of strategic critical minerals outside of China. 

The OPFS proposes a fully owner-operated, large-scale openpit dry mining operation using draglines and the trucking of material to the processing plants. The 2023 prefeasibility study (PFS) envisaged mining would be undertaken on a contractor basis.

The project will have an initial life-of-mine (LoM) of 25 years, based on a hydraulic mining process where slurry material will be screened and pumped overland to processing plants.

The OPFS proposes the construction of two 12-million-tonne-a-year processing plants – South Kasiya, followed by North Kasiya in Year 5.

Dry mining means the material received at the plant is not prewet and prescrubbed. The OPFS, therefore, proposes a process plant front-end comprising two scrubbers and two oversize screens per 12-million-tonne plant. No further changes are proposed to the processing plant flowsheet.

Average rutile production remains unchanged from the 2023 PFS at 222 000 t/y, while average graphite production has increased to 244 000 t/y in the OPFS from 233 000 t/y in the 2023 PFS. 

Total rutile production over the LoM is estimated at 5.55-million tonnes and total graphite at 6.28-million tonnes.

As per the PFS, a conventional process will be used to produce rutile and graphite concentrate, with tailings in separate sand and fines streams being pumped to a conventional tailings storage facility (TSF). Mined-out pit areas will be backfilled as part of a rehabilitation process. 

Potential Job Creation
Kasiya will employ nearly 1 100 people, the majority of whom will be employed in plant operations. For every person employed directly in the project, a significant multiplier of people will be employed in indirect jobs supporting the project.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The OPFS estimates pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $2.32-billion (2023 PFS: $2.42-billion), and an internal rate of return of 27% (2023 PFS: 32%).

Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure (capex) to first production is estimated at $665-million, with total LoM development capex estimated at $1.23-billion (2023 PFS: $1.25-billion).

Planned Start/End Date
Production at Kasiya is currently targeted to start in 2030.

Latest Developments
Sovereign Metals has reported a substantial upgrade to the mineral resource, with an estimate in March 2026 increasing the total rutile mineral resource to 2.105-billion tonnes at 0.96% rutile containing 20.24-million tonnes of rutile. The same resource also contains 19.95-million tonnes of graphite at an average grade of 0.95% total graphitic carbon. The update will replace the April 2023 estimate as the resource base for the project’s definitive feasibility study (DFS). 

A key outcome of the update is the marked improvement in resource confidence. Measured and indicated rutile resources are now 1.652-billion tonnes at 0.98% rutile containing 16.12-million tonnes of rutile. Consequently, 77% of the total rutile resource is now in the higher-confidence categories. The update also marks the first measured resource – totalling 107-million tonnes at 1.05% rutile for 1.12-million tonnes of contained rutile – declared at Kasiya. Sovereign has said this lifts the project to the classification standard required for a bankable DFS, and it supports future financing and offtake discussions. 

Compared with the previous estimate, total resource tonnes increased by 16%, measured and indicated tonnes by 38%, measured and indicated contained rutile by 32%, and total contained rutile by 13%. The report also shows that, on a broader combined basis within the pit shell, the project hosts 3.428-billion tonnes grading 0.77% rutile and 1.09% total graphitic carbon containing 26.3-million tonnes of rutile and 37.3-million tonnes of graphite. 

Further, Sovereign Metals has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan's Mitsui & Co for the potential supply of natural rutile from the Kasiya project.

The agreement outlines a framework for the supply of up to 70 000 t/y of natural rutile concentrate containing more than 95% titanium dioxide over an initial four-year period from first production, with the option to extend the supply arrangement by a further five years.

MD and CEO Frank Eagar has said the agreement reflects growing global interest in securing high-grade titanium feedstock.

The MoU comes as governments intensify efforts to strengthen critical minerals supply chains, including cooperation between the US, the EU and Japan on trade policy and supply chain resilience.

The MoU is nonbinding and nonexclusive, with the parties intending to negotiate a definitive offtake agreement. The arrangement also remains subject to existing agreements with Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration, and the International Finance Corporation regarding the Kasiya project.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
ProGraphite and Dorfner Anzaplan (testwork programmes).

Contact Details for Project Information
Sovereign Metals, tel +61 8 9322 6322 or email info@sovereignmetals.com.au.