RUTILE
“Titanium is essential for U.S. defense systems…supports 15 of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified by the Department of Homeland Security.”
U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, Commerce
What is Rutile?
Rutile is the purest, highest-grade naturally occurring form of titanium.
Kasiya is the largest rutile deposit in the world with a Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.8Bt at 1.0% rutile resulting in 17.9Mt tonnes of contained natural rutile.
Titanium is found in nature in two main feedstock forms:
- Natural Rutile (95%+ TiO₂) which requires little-to-no beneficiation from its natural form
- Ilmenite (30-60% TiO₂), which requires energy and is carbon-intensive before being used in titanium metal production.
Source: Prices per TZMI; Ilmenite price: November 2023 FOB Mozambique; Rutile price: “weighted average price for bagged rutile shipments”
Rutile Is The Preferred Feedstock For The High-Quality Titanium Industry
Titanium serves a range of industrial markets due to its remarkable properties. Titanium is highly corrosion resistant and chemically inert while offering a high strength-to-weight ratio. In its form as titanium dioxide, titanium feedstock is also essential for pigment manufacturing, for example in paints and paper.
In its metal form, titanium is as strong as steel, but 45% lighter, and twice as strong as aluminium, but only 60% heavier. As a result, the metal is used extensively in aerospace, defence, healthcare, and technology applications.
Global Rutile Supply Is Decreasing While Demand For Titanium Increases
Current sources of natural rutile are in decline as several operations’ reserves are depleting concurrently with declining ore grades. These include Sierra Rutile in Sierra Leone and Base Resources’ Kwale operations in Kenya.
Additionally, global rutile supply is projected to decline sharply beyond 2023 and there are limited new deposits forecast to come online, meaning supplies of natural rutile are likely to remain in extreme structural deficit.
Rutile Supply
(kt TiO₂ Units)
Titanium Feedstock Demand
(Mt TiO₂ Units)
Sovereign’s Natural Rutile Can Lower The Titanium Industry’s Carbon Footprint
Despite being the preferred feedstock for the higher-quality titanium product industry, due to its scarcity, natural rutile accounts for only 5% of global titanium feedstock supply. This scarcity has prompted the titanium industry to develop upgraded feedstock products from lower-grade ilmenite that can be used as substitutes.
This high-energy and carbon-intensive process essentially removes iron oxide from the ilmenite feedstock to produce upgraded synthetic rutile and / or titania slag.
An independent, peer-reviewed, ISO-compliant life cycle analysis estimated a global warming potential of 0.1 tonnes CO₂-equivalent emitted per tonne for Sovereign’s natural rutile product versus 2.0 t CO₂-equivalent per tonne for titania slag production in South Africa and 3.3 t CO₂-equivalent per tonne for production of synthetic rutile in Australia.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions of High-Grade Titanium Feedstock
(Tonnes of CO₂ - Equivalent)
Source: ISO-compliant, Peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment completed by Minviro Ltd
Switching supply to Sovereign’s rutile product would be equivalent to emissions saved from taking approximately 140,000 internal combustion engine cars off European streets per year (Kasiya has a minimum production life of 25 years).
GRAPHITE
“Graphite has played an important role in the emerging non-carbon energy sector… Current graphite capacity may not be adequate for the increasing demands.”
U.S. Department of the Interior
Graphite Is a Critical Mineral for the Energy Transition
- Graphite is a naturally occurring crystalline form of the element carbon.
- Occurring within rutile mineralisation, graphite is a “by-product” from Kasiya.
- Kasiya is the second largest flake graphite deposit in the world with a Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.8Bt at 1.4% graphite resulting in 24.4Mt tonnes of contained natural graphite.
Graphite is used in multiple industries, but demand in batteries is the high-growth area. As the anode in lithium-ion batteries, graphite can be up to 50% of an Electric Vehicle battery’s volume. In 2022, 3.6 million tonnes of graphite was consumed, with the battery sector accounting for 22.1%. By 2033, overall demand is forecast to reach 8.1 million tonnes, with battery’s share rising to 55.7% (Source: Fastmarkets).
Graphite is mostly processed into active anode material in China which dominates the supply chain, with almost 100% of European anode material originating in China.
With Kasiya’s natural graphite being suitable for the manufacture of active anode material, the Project is set to become the largest secure long term source of supply outside of China, producing natural graphite at an industry low operating cost.
Typical lithium-ion battery
China Dominates Supply Of Graphite For Battery Anodes
NATURAL GRAPHITE
Extracted from mining (natural graphitisation occurred over time) and purified.
CHINA
REST
OF THE
WORLD
SYNTHETIC GRAPHITE
Produced from needle coke via graphitisation process.
CHINA
JAPAN
Both natural and synthetic graphite are used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
In 2018, the ratio of synthetic and natural graphite used to manufacture anodes was 50:50. Natural graphite’s share fell to 30% in 2022, as strong demand for batteries and the lack of natural graphite supply required cell manufacturers to adopt synthetic graphite. The ratio is expected to reach 50:50 again in 2030 and maintain this share (Source: Fastmarkets).
Sovereign natural graphite can help decarbonise the lithium-ion battery sector
Synthetic graphite production requires the high-energy and carbon-intensive processing of by-products from the petrochemicals industry. This process’s global warming potential is estimated to be between 15 and 25 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions per tonne of synthetic graphite produced. An independent, peer-reviewed, ISO-compliant life cycle analysis estimated a global warming potential of 0.2 tonnes CO₂-equivalent emitted per tonne for Sovereign’s natural graphite product versus 1.2 t CO₂-equivalent per tonne for Chinese natural graphite production, making Sovereign’s natural graphite the lowest carbon-footprint graphite in the world.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Natural Graphite
(Tonnes of CO₂ - Equivalent)
Source: ISO-compliant, Peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment completed by Minviro Ltd
Sustainability/How We Give Back
The company’s objective is to develop a large-scale, long-life rutile-graphite operation, focused on developing an environmentally responsible, sustainable, and socially uplifting operation.
Examples of these initiatives are:
- Predominantly solar and hydro-powered operation.
- Progressive rehabilitation will return land to original condition.
- Established ESG framework advancing social initiatives in Malawi.