Sovereign Metals Ltd (ASX:SVM, OTC:SVMLF, AIM:SVML) has completed an extensive infill drilling program on schedule at the Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project in Malawi to support ongoing technical studies.
The program was designed to upgrade Kasiya’s mineral resource estimate (MRE) and convert ore reserves from probable to proven category.
Kasiya is already the world’s largest rutile deposit and second-largest flake graphite deposit, with more than 66% of the current MRE in the indicated category.
Infill program
The infill drilling program consisted of:
- 281 aircore holes over 5,607 metres, with an average depth of 20 metres;
- 309 hand auger holes drilled over 1,280 metres, with an average depth of 4 metres;
- 30 push tube and diamond core holes drilled over 663 metres, providing samples for verification twinning and geotechnical sampling with an average depth of 22 metres.
All drill samples will have rutile and graphite assayed by offsite laboratories in South Africa and Australia with results of the drilling program and the resource upgrade anticipated in early 2025.
To feed into future studies
Managing director and CEO Frank Eagar said: “Completing the infill drilling program on schedule will assist us in upgrading our mineral resource estimate.”
He said results “will feed into our future technical studies as part of ongoing pre-development activities at the Kasiya Project being overseen by the Sovereign-Rio Tinto Technical Committee.”
An offset 200x200-metre program was designed, resulting in an average drill spacing of 142 metres.
Offset spacing
This offset spacing had the advantage of allowing analysis of geology and grade continuity in orthogonal and diagonal directions.
Push tube/diamond core showing stainless Shelby tubes for geotechnical samples and PVC casing for the push tube samples in the foreground.
The work focused on southern Kasiya in the designated pits proposed to provide ore feed in the first eight years of the project’s production schedule.
Ore reserves in these areas are expected to be converted from the probable to proven category with an upgrade of the current MRE from indicated to the measured category under the JORC (2012) Code.
About the mineralisation
The current MRE identifies broad and continuous high-grade rutile and graphite zones, extending over a vast area of more than 201 square kilometres.
Rutile mineralisation is concentrated in laterally extensive, near-surface, flat ‘blanket’ deposits in areas where the weathering profile remains intact and largely uneroded.
Graphite is largely depleted near the surface, with grades generally improving at depths greater than 4 metres, down to the base of the saprolite zone, which averages around 22 metres.