Aim- and ASX-listed Sovereign Metals’ spiral drilling programme has extracted, despatched and delivered 30 t of ore from the Kasiya rutile/graphite project in Malawi to Paterson & Cooke (P&C), in Cape Town, South Africa, for test work.

P&C is an engineering consultant in the mining sector.

The material is representative of ore expected to be mined in the first ten years of production and will be used for advanced bulk laboratory-scale test work to optimise technical elements of the previously announced Kasiya prefeasibility study (PFS).

These areas include larger-scale pumping, tailings characteristics and dewatering.

“I must commend our geology and logistics teams who, in a very short space of time, successfully extracted and delivered this large representative sample from Kasiya to Paterson & Cooke. This represents a significant step in our ongoing project delivery.

“Importantly, it also demonstrates the effectiveness of the day-to-day technical involvement of our strategic investor, Rio Tinto, in assisting Sovereign with the Kasiya project optimisation and bringing this tier one project closer to development,” says MD Frank Eager.

P&C has over 30 years of industry experience and expertise in slurry pipeline systems, tailings and mine waste handling, mine backfill and mineral processing.

Its laboratory in Cape Town has a pipe loop facility that will be used to test specific parameters related to the mining, transportation, and handling of Kasiya ore.

The project team, comprising Sovereign and Rio Tinto representatives, designed the test work programme, which the technical committee then approved.

The technical committee comprises three Sovereign employees, including Eagar, and three Rio Tinto employees, including Rio Tinto’s GM for Kasiya.

The technical committee provides recommendations and advice on technical matters relating to the project.

It was established in line with the investment agreement between Sovereign and Rio Tinto following Rio Tinto’s A$40.4-million investment into Sovereign to become a 15% strategic investor.