Sovereign Metals Reports Major Graphite Coating Success at Kasiya Amid Global Supply Disruption
Sovereign Metals has announced highly successful results from the latest testwork on graphite sourced from its Kasiya rutile-graphite project in Malawi.
The test program focused on refining the coating process used to convert spherical purified graphite (SPG) from Kasiya into coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG), while maintaining high-performance standards suitable for battery applications.
The optimisation work, conducted by graphite specialist ProGraphite, confirmed that graphite from Kasiya meets the stringent requirements for CSPG production.
The process achieved key coating specifications and refined input parameters, all while preserving the superior performance metrics that position Kasiya graphite among the top-quality sources globally.
“Kasiya remains primarily a rutile project, but the ability to also produce CSPG with world-class performance from our natural graphite concentrate further highlights the strategic importance of Kasiya,” said Sovereign Metals CEO and Managing Director Frank Eagar.
Pitch coating is a critical process in which carbon-rich pitch material is applied to spherical graphite particles to form protective layers.
This treatment enhances battery efficiency, longevity, and overall performance, converting SPG into CSPG. The recent testwork evaluated different pitch content levels to optimise coating results.
These successful results are expected to support Sovereign’s ongoing offtake discussions with anode manufacturers, as the global graphite supply chain undergoes significant disruption.
The announcement comes as the US Commerce Department imposes 93.5% anti-dumping duties on Chinese graphite imports—part of a broader trend of rising tariffs, which now exceed 160% for some Chinese-sourced graphite. These developments are prompting battery and EV manufacturers to seek diversified supply options.
Sovereign Metals is positioning the Kasiya project to become the world’s largest and lowest-cost natural graphite supplier outside China, offering a critical alternative for downstream manufacturers impacted by geopolitical shifts in the graphite market.
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