Modern Mining November 2018

GRAPHITE

the PFS points out that the proximity to Lilongwe gives the project a number of benefits, including access to a large pool of profession- als and skilled tradespeople. This removes the requirement for site accommodation during the mining phase. Additionally, product is only required to be hauled a short distance by road to the existing and under-utilised operational intermodal rail siding at Kanengo. A ready market is foreseen for Malingunde’s product. The PFS say that Sovereign is focusing on initial entry into existing primary end-mar- kets, including the refractory, foundry and expandable graphite sectors. The project’s very low production costs will allow the company to compete on price point with China, the world’s largest supplier of natural flake graphite. Test-work on Malingunde flake graphite has demonstrated suitability for traditional markets and lithium-ion battery anode applications. Sovereign has been able to achieve a ‘5-Nines’ graphite product via a relatively simple pro- cess. This will allow the company to expand its market reach to capitalise on future growth in lithium-ion battery demand. The project’s bias to large, jumbo and super-jumbo flake concentrates has resulted in Sovereign receiving significant interest from potential purchasers of these high-value graph- ite products. Based on the outstanding results of the PFS, Sovereign says it plans to proceed to the DFS stage immediately. It points out that the PFS has been undertaken to a high stan- dard, with many of the work programmes required for the DFS having been already completed or substantially advanced.

The DFS study phase will include a pilot plant programme in order to confirm the flow- sheet at a large scale, and to provide significant quantities of material for assessment by poten- tial offtake partners. Approximately 40 tonnes of ROM material for pilot plant purposes has already been despatched to SGS Lakefield in Canada. Photos courtesy of Sovereign Metals

Outline of pit shells showing the planned mining order.

November 2018  MODERN MINING  31