Sovereign Metals Ltd (ASX:SVM, AIM:SVML) has presented at a roundtable on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Critical Minerals at the UK Houses of Parliament extolling the low-carbon footprint virtues of the Kasiya Rutile Project in Malawi.
Chair Ben Stoikovich spoke to the ability of the company’s natural rutile Kasiya Project to become an important supplier of low-carbon footprint natural graphite to the UK.
The presentation also showcased the potential for Sovereign’s natural rutile and graphite products to help tackle climate change and bring direct benefits to Malawi through job creation, community initiatives and fiscal benefits.
SVM recently released a Life Cycle Assessment Study (LCA) which demonstrated a substantially lower global warming potential (GWP) for the Kasiya Project’s production of natural carbon as a by-product of rutile, specifically when compared to natural graphite produced in China.
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Supplying two critical raw minerals
“The importance of sustainable supply chains for clean-tech solutions such as lithium-ion battery powered electric vehicles cannot be underestimated,” Stoikovich said.
“As such, Kasiya could become globally strategically important as it has the potential to supply not one, but two, critical raw materials to world economies looking at building a sustainable future and tackling climate change.”
The LCA indicated each tonne of graphite produced from Kasiya will have a GWP of 0.2 tonnes CO2e, representing an 80% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions compared to natural graphite produced in the Heilongjiang Province, China.
China currently produces more than 75% of the world’s natural graphite, about 80% of global synthetic graphite and corners 100% of the global market of natural graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries.
Synthetic graphite’s GWP was estimated at 20.6 tonnes CO2e or 103 times that of Kasiya’s natural graphite by independent peer-reviewed studies published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology.
Aside from its climate implications, graphite from Kasiya has also demonstrated a coarse flake, high purity and highly crystalline product suitable for lithium-ion batteries and wider industrial uses.