Sovereign Metals announced that Rio Tint has exercised all its share options, increasing its shareholding in Sovereign to 19.76 per cent.
In particular, Rio Tinto exercised 34,549,598 share options, acquiring the same number of new fully paid ordinary shares in Sovereign at A$0.535 per share, resulting in proceeds of A$18,484,035.
Sovereign said it plans to use the proceeds from Rio Tinto’s additional strategic investment to further advance Sovereign’s Tier 1 Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project (Kasiya) in Malawi.
This includes progressing the current optimization study for Kasiya, which focuses on developing a mine capable of supplying critical minerals to the titanium pigment, titanium metal, and lithium-ion battery industries.
“Rio Tinto’s further investment in Sovereign reaffirms Kasiya’s position as one of the most significant critical minerals projects globally,” commented Sovereign’s Chairman, Ben Stoikovich.
“With Rio Tinto’s wealth of experience as one of the world’s largest and most accomplished global mining companies, Kasiya is well-positioned to potentially become a market leader in low-CO2-footprint natural rutile and graphite.”
Under the Investment Agreement between Sovereign and Rio Tinto, Rio Tinto will continue to provide assistance and advice on technical and marketing aspects of Kasiya.
Funds from the option exercise are expected to be received by Friday, 5 July 2024.
Sovereign’s Managing Director Frank Eagar stated, “In collaboration with Rio Tinto, we have made significant progress in advancing Kasiya over the course of this year, including the successful launch of the pilot phase mining in May.”
Eagar remarked, “We are excited about Rio Tinto’s further investment in Sovereign, which represents another significant step towards unlocking a major new supply of low-CO2-footprint natural rutile and flake graphite.”
