Sovereign Metals Ltd (ASX:SVM, AIM:SVML) is now a member of the UK’s Critical Minerals Association, an organisation that works to increase the self-sufficiency of supply chains to bolster the UK’s industrial strategy.
SVM’s membership with the CMA forms part of its ambition to support sustainable, socially responsible and environmentally beneficial supply of natural rutile and natural graphite.
Down the line, the company’s Kasiya project in Malawi will produce rutile — the purest natural source of titanium, with natural graphite as a by-product — both of which are designated critical raw materials for the US and the EU.
With a need to identify new sources of critical minerals amid escalating tensions in Eastern Europe, the CMA hopes to make supply chains more self-sufficient to support the UK’s low-carbon, sustainability-driven industrial strategy.
Establishing secure supply chains
Speaking to its membership with the CMA, Sovereign chairman Ben Stoikovich said: “The world’s economies are rightly focusing on developing sustainable and secure supply chains of raw materials deemed critical based on their economic, environmental, and social importance.
“In this regard, Sovereign’s Kasiya project in Malawi is well positioned to potentially supply two critical raw materials to economies across the globe over several decades.”
Rutile and titanium — why are they critical?
Natural rutile is the purest, highest-grade natural form of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and is the preferred feedstock in manufacturing titanium pigment and producing titanium metal.
Titanium pigments have wide and varied applications — they’re used in paints, coatings and plastics. Titanium also plays a major role in specialty applications including welding, aerospace, and military.
Currently, rutile market fundamentals are robust, with current and forecast pricing remaining very strong.
But there’s a supply problem: natural rutile is a genuinely scarce commodity with no other large rutile dominant deposits having been discovered in the last half-century.
What’s more, natural rutile supply from current sources is in decline as several operations’ reserves are depleting concurrently with declining ore grades.
These include Iluka’s Sierra Rutile and Base Resources’ Kwale operations in Kenya.
Additionally, there are limited new deposits forecast to come online, and hence supply of natural rutile is likely to remain in structural deficit.
Where does Sovereign come in?
Sovereign’s Kasiya project is poised as a strategic and globally significant natural rutile deposit that’s positioned for further resource growth.
The asset’s current mineral resource estimate stands at 605 million tonnes, grading at 0.98% rutile (the resource bears a 0.7% cut-off and sits in the indicated and inferred categories).
The company completed an initial scoping study in December 2021, which confirms Kasiya as a globally significant natural rutile project.
In fact, the project represents the largest undeveloped rutile deposit in the world — making it highly strategic in a market characterised by extreme supply deficit.
Last year’s scoping study developed the concept for a multi-decade mine, providing a stable supply of a highly sought-after rutile and graphite while contributing to Malawi’s economy.