Sovereign Metals' Kasiya study confirms world-scale rutile and graphite project in Malawi

Sovereign Metals released a definitive feasibility study on 16 April 2026 confirming its Kasiya project near Lilongwe, Malawi, can be developed into the world's largest producer of natural rutile and natural flake graphite. The study outlines a Stage 1 operation processing 12 million tonnes of ore a year, producing 222,000 tonnes of rutile and 275,000 tonnes of graphite annually, before a planned doubling of throughput to 24 million tonnes a year in Stage 2.

The numbers behind the study

Stage 1 development capital is estimated at $727 million, about 9% higher than the earlier pre-feasibility estimate, with sustaining capital of $431 million and operating costs of $450 a tonne over a 25-year mine life. The study puts the project's pre-tax net present value at $2.2 billion, an internal rate of return of 23%, and projected annual earnings of $476 million, with lifetime revenue estimated at $16 billion. Sovereign is also evaluating recovery of a monazite concentrate as a by-product, which would carry the rare earth elements dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.

Why it matters

Kasiya's March 2026 mineral resource estimate stands at 2,105 million tonnes grading 0.96% rutile and 0.95% total graphitic carbon, for 20.24 million tonnes of contained rutile and 19.95 million tonnes of contained graphite, reportedly the world's largest natural rutile deposit and the second-largest flake graphite deposit. Rutile is a key feedstock for titanium dioxide pigment and titanium metal, while flake graphite is used in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries, giving Kasiya relevance to both traditional industrial demand and the energy transition.

Rio Tinto has held an 18.5% stake in Sovereign since 2020 and had an option to become project operator. In July 2026, Rio Tinto confirmed it would not exercise that option, leaving Sovereign in full control of the project's development.

What happens next

With the DFS complete and Rio Tinto's operatorship question resolved, Sovereign's focus shifts to financing and permitting Stage 1 construction, including securing offtake agreements for both rutile and graphite production streams before a final investment decision.

Sources

• Mining Weekly: DFS confirms Sovereign, Rio Tinto's Kasiya project can be world's largest rutile, graphite producer, 17 Apr 2026
• MINING.COM: Rio Tinto hands Sovereign full control of Malawi graphite project, 01 Jul 2026

Photo: Rutile, the titanium mineral at the centre of the Kasiya project. HolDu, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de.