As Malawi’s name gets etched in the global mining sector due to the Kasiya rutile and graphite project, calls are rising for the public to be made to understand what is going on at the site and what this project is all about.
At issue is the fact that last year, Sovereign Metals Limited, the Australian firm which is implementing the project, carried out trial mining at the site in Group Village Headman Kapudzama’s area.
The trial phase included digging pits to extract samples.
These pits have since been closed down and maize is growing on the land today.
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Kapudzama said the community was informed about the initial steps of the trial.
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However, communication stopped after the trial ended, triggering speculations within and outside the area that Sovereign Metals walked away with minerals.
“Villagers were left in the dark after the company packed up its equipment and left the area,” Kapudzama said.
Mining expert Grain Malunga expressed concern about the lack of government communication on the project, saying it is causing unnecessary speculation.
“I urged the government to provide clear information about mining activities to avoid confusion,” Malunga said.
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According to Malunga, in that trial around 2,000 tonnes of samples were taken from the site for analysis.
These samples were not for profit, he said, but to determine whether mining can continue.
He highlighted the problem of lack of public understanding about mining in Malawi.
He encouraged efforts to educate people about the developments in the sector.
Regarding the rehabilitation of the site where the samples were taken from, Malunga defended this process. He said it was part of land restoration efforts as contained within mining laws.
Maxwell Kazako, Country Manager for Sovereign Metals Limited, confirmed the completion of the pilot phase of the project.
He said he samples were for the purposes of testing work to determine the economic and feasible way to extract rutile and graphite from the soil.
This will inform how the processing plant needs to be designed, engineered and costed.
“The company has not sold any minerals (or samples) since it started exploration activities and does not intend to do so until the project is fully implemented and operational which will take a number of years,” Kazako said
He said through the land rehabilitation activity, Sovereign Metals intended to demonstrate to communities and farmers how mining will take place.
“It was also to show that the company will rehabilitate and restore the land after mining for the purpose of getting people back on to their land to continue farming.
“Our objective is to restore land after mining to conditions that achieve the same or better agricultural yields than existing land uses and crop yields.
“For this reason, the company will undertake field-based demonstrations of rehabilitation showcasing drying times, soil recoveries, soil nutrients, growth variants, and including different soil inputs and revegetation methods,” he said.
Acting Director at the Ministry of Mining Mphatso Chikoti said the Kasiya rutile project is still in its definitive feasibility stage.
At this point, the focus is on determining whether the project is economically and technically viable.
“Sovereign Services Ltd., the project holder, is conducting various studies, including an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and trial mining activities.
“These studies aim to ensure compliance with Malawi’s laws and sustainable development principles,” he said.
Chikoti further confirmed that the mining licence has not been issued yet and no commercial production is underway.
The company currently operates under an exploration licence.
The Kasiya mining exploration started in 2000.
The project requires an estimated $597 million to start full production.
Once operational, it is expected to produce 245,000 tonnes of rutile and 288,000 tonnes of graphite annually for 25 years.
In a video clip of a presentation of the project which Sovereign made, apparently to potential investors, officials said the project is the largest rutile (a form of titanium) resource on Earth today.
They said the project is also the second largest graphite resource in the world.
A pre-feasibility study which Sovereign Metals released shows that the project can generate revenue of up to $654 million a year for 25 years, and a profitability of up to $415 million a year for that period.
After those 25 years of mining, there would still be around 70 percent of the mineralisation left untouched, meaning the project can span for as long 50 to 70 years.
