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Sovereign Metals Ltd on Wednesday reported optimistically on findings from its Kasiya mine in Malawi. The Perth, Australia-based company targets rutile and graphite at Kasiya. Its shares rose 7.5% to 36.00 pence in London on Wednesday morning. It has recovered monazite from four planned pits, containing dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, which Sovereign described as ‘the most critical and highly valuable heavy rare earth elements’. The zone from which the elements were recovered includes pits scheduled for production in year one, the company added. It claimed that the oxide ratios in the total rare earth oxide basket are around seven times higher than those of the world’s five largest rare earth producers. Sovereign estimated a 2.5% dysprosium-terbium ratio and an 11.8% yttrium ratio, compared with 0.4% dysprosium-terbium and 1.7% terbium for the largest rare earth producers. Near-surface findings at Kasiya showed ratios of up to 3.1% dysprosium-terbium and 17.2% yttrium. Sovereign sees monazite as a potential third revenue stream, possibly requiring neither additional mining nor a new primary processing circuit, though this is subject to confirmation. Sovereign cited an ‘independent report’ indicating a potential pricing base case of $16,000 per tonne of monazite in 2026, and a high case of $19,000 per tonne. The Shanghai Metals Market benchmark spot monazite price, which assumes a minimum 54% to 55% total rare earth oxide grade, in April stood at $6,142 per tonne for a monazite product with an ‘identical’ total rare earth oxide reading as the findings Sovereign reported on Wednesday. Chief Executive Frank Eager commented: ‘These results confirm that the monazite-hosted rare earth content first reported in January 2026 is present in pits scheduled for the early years of production at Kasiya. The monazite concentrate contains all four magnetic rare earth elements - neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium - plus highly critical yttrium. These elements appear to be recoverable from the current tailings stream of our [definitive feasibility study] flowsheet. We are advancing the additional mineralogical and metallurgical work required to quantify the potential economic upside to the DFS reported last month.’ Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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