Today Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) announced that Rio Tinto will invest A$40.4 million in Sovereign resulting in an initial 15% shareholding.
Sovereign traded up 21% in the last five days to GBX28.50.
Sovereign is focused on Kasiya, located in central Malawi. The company said that its project is the largest natural rutile deposit and one of the largest flake graphite deposits in the world. An expanded scoping study was released in 2022. The company said it is now in the latter stages of a prefeasibility study.
Sovereign’s Chairman Ben Stoikovich called the investment by Rio Tinto significant.
"The experience and expertise that Rio Tinto brings will truly set Kasiya apart as a potentially globally significant supply of two critical minerals and take us all a step closer to supply chain decarbonisation and achieving net-zero," said Stoikovich. "Furthermore, this is yet another step towards unlocking significant benefits from development of the Kasiya project for Malawi. We welcome Rio Tinto as a major shareholder of Sovereign and look forward to working with Rio Tinto as our strategic partner in the development of Kasiya.”
