Sovereign Metals is a new force in rutile. Sovereign Metals has discovered what is likely to be one of the world’s largest rutile deposits in Malawi in SE Africa. Sovereign believes it has identified a globally significant, strategic rutile province across its large ground holding in Malawi.

Rutile is a titanium mineral and is the purest natural form of titanium. It’s main uses are in pigment and in the welding industry.

Sovereign Metals had originally been looking for graphite projects when they came across rutile in the area in 2018 and found this large rutile discovery in 2020. The Malawi Rutile Province offers two confirmed, discrete rutile mineralisation styles hosted respectively in sand and saprolite (soft, friable weathered material) which are both amenable to conventional processing.

Since 2020 the company has spent the last 18 months drilling out the deposit which so far covers 114km2 and is likely to grow significantly to possibly become the biggest rutile deposit in the world. Known rutile mineralisation to date is unconstrained across the Company’s large ground position, offering extensive exploration upside.

Sovereign is targeting the definition of a substantial resource that can support a long-life, large scale rutile operation.

The company has AUD$8M in the bank which will get them to a completed PFS. They will then start looking for off-take agreements and move onto a DFS then to funding and construction and production at the project.

A scoping study is underway and Sovereign plans to announce this progress going forward with its release to the market in November this year. 

The company is targeting 4-5Bn of the total 15Bn rutile market which is the high grade feedstock component of the market. Competitors in this market include Iluca Resources, Tronox, Minerals Sands resources, Rio and Kenmare.

In the next 6-12 months, Sovereign Metals will complete a resource update and a scoping study targeted towards the end of year with the PFS completed during the first half of next year.