Sovereign Metals Ltd (ASX:SVM, FRA:SVM) has received further high-grade rutile results from phase 2 drilling at Nsaru rutile deposit within Malawi’s rutile province that have confirmed and expanded the discovery.
Nsaru is adjacent to and within the same geological domain as the Kasiya deposit where the company recently reported a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 644 million tonnes at 1.01% rutile.
Sovereign’s step-out drilling has increased the Nsaru rutile-mineralised footprint to 40 square kilometres and has returned strong results such as:
- 11 metres at 1.29% rutile, including, 5 metres at 1.55%;
- 10 metres at 1.51%, including, 3 metres at 1.99%;
- 10 metres at 1.51%, including 4 metres at 2.14%; and
- 8 metres at 1.25%, including 5 metres at 1.43%.
“One of largest natural rutile provinces”
Sovereign managing director Dr Julian Stephens said: “The high-grade Nsaru rutile deposit builds on and continues to validate our view that we have discovered one of the world’s largest and most strategic natural rutile provinces.
“In parallel with the company’s primary Scoping Study objectives at Kasiya, the team is rapidly progressing resource drilling at Nsaru in preparation for a JORC resource estimate toward the end of the year.
“This is an important step toward the company’s objective of becoming a future supplier of premium grade natural rutile to the global titanium markets.”
High-grade results
Sovereign has drilled a total of 98 exploration holes to depths of up to 14 metres, with 94 holes showing high-grade rutile.
Promisingly, very high grades are shown consistently in the top 3 to 5 metres from the surface.
Other strong results are:
- 7 metres at 1.18% rutile, including, 4 metres at 1.55%;
- 11 metres at 1.17%, including, 4 metres at 1.53%;
- 10 metres at 1.14%, including, 5 metres at 1.37%;
- 10 metres at 1.08%, including, 4 metres at 1.46%;
- 10 metres at 1.14%, including, 7 metres at 1.38%;
- 12 metres at 1.16%, including, 4 metres at 1.51%;
- 10 metres at 1.15%, including, 5 metres at 1.36%;
- 9 metres at 1.32%, including, 5 metres at 1.59%;
- 10 metres at 1.17%, including, 2 metres at 1.41%; and
- 6 metres at 1.13%, including, 2 metres at 2.14%.
Resource growth potential
Sovereign’s Nsaru deposit now shows consistent high-grade rutile mineralisation from the surface with lateral widths of up to 9 kilometres across and a current strike length of about 11.5 kilometres.
The high-grade rutile envelope remains open to the north toward Kasiya and to the south.
Notably, the area of drilled mineralisation to date at Nsaru has grown from 25 square kilometres to 40 square kilometres – a 37% increase.
Combined with Kasiya’s footprint of 89 square kilometres, this gives Sovereign’s a total mineralised area of 129 square kilometres
Presently, only 49 square kilometres (or 38%) of this area is in the current Kasiya resource estimate, offering resource growth potential.
Forward plan
Sovereign’s next major technical milestone is the Kasiya scoping study with completion targeted for late 2021.
The objective is to develop a large-scale, long-life, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible natural rutile operation.
In addition to the study and supporting activities, the company has the following programs underway:
- A 2,000-metre core drilling program ongoing at Kasiya targeting a MRE upgrade to the indicated JORC category to feed into the study;
- Continued extensional and infill drilling at Nsaru and the broader surrounding area to identify extensions, discover new regional mineralised zones;
- Further metallurgical test-work has now commenced on a bulk representative sample from Kasiya; and
- Investigation and further test-work for a potential coarse-flake graphite by-product from Kasiya.
- Ephrems Joseph