KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Monazite concentrate containing the most critical and highly valuable heavy rare earth elements Dysprosium (Dy), Terbium (Tb) and Yttrium recovered from four planned pits in the Kasiya DFS mine plan, including pits scheduled for Year 1 production.
- DyTb and Yttrium oxide ratios in the Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) basket ~7-times higher than world’s five largest rare earth producers.
o Average 2.5% DyTb and 11.8% Yttrium within TREO basket vs. 0.4% DyTb and 1.7% Yttrium across the five largest rare earth producers.
o Highest ratios of up to 3.1% DyTb and 17.2% Yttrium found near-surface (0-6m).
- U.S. Department of War describes heavy rare earth supply chain risk as “a clear and present danger to our national security” - Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Michael P. Cadenazzi Jr., testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, 24 February 2026.
o MP Materials Corp., America’s only fully integrated rare earth producer, reports no measurable Dy, Tb or Yttrium.
- Western supply-chain decoupling has accelerated as DyTb and Yttrium subject to Chinese export controls.
o On 20 April 2026, USA Rare Earth, Inc. agreed to acquire Serra Verde Group for ~US$2.8 billion, underpinned by a 15-year U.S. government-backed offtake with floor pricing.
- Monazite potentially a third revenue stream from the non-conductor tailings stream of the DFS flowsheet — potential for no additional mining and no new primary processing circuit – confirmation of this is in progress.
- Independent report shows potential pricing of US$16,000/t base case (US$19,000/t high case) in 2026 (real), vs April 2026 Shanghai Metals Market benchmark spot monazite price (min 54-55% TREO grade) of US$6,142/t for a monazite product with identical TREO as these latest results.
Managing Director and CEO Frank Eagar 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 DFS flowsheet. We are advancing the additional mineralogical and metallurgical work required to quantify the potential economic upside to the DFS reported last month.”
Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX:SVM; AIM:SVML; OTCQX:SVMLF) (Sovereign or the Company) is pleased to announce significant heavy rare earth metallurgical testwork results at its Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project (Kasiya or the Project) in Malawi. The testwork was conducted on monazite concentrates recovered from four pits in the Project’s Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) mine plan.
The results confirm that the heavy rare earth content of Dy, Tb and Yttrium first reported in January 2026 (See ASX Announcement dated 21 January 2026) is present in pits scheduled for the early years of production at Kasiya, with average TREO basket ratios approximately 7x higher than the world’s five largest rare earth producers.
Heavy rare earth content is highest in the near-surface (0–6m) which returns DyTb and Yttrium ratios within the TREO basket materially above those of the deeper horizon.
Table 1: Summary Results
Pit |
| Light REE | Heavy REE | |
NdPr (%) | DyTb (%) | Y (%) | ||
Babbler |
| 21.0 | 2.6 | 11.7 |
Kingfisher |
| 20.5 | 2.7 | 12.5 |
Sparrow |
| 20.9 | 2.5 | 11.9 |
Mousebird |
| 21.2 | 2.4 | 11.3 |
Kasiya Four-pit Average | 20.9 | 2.5 | 11.8 | |
Near Surface (0-6m) | 19.3 | 2.9 | 15.4 | |
Deeper (6m+) | 21.6 | 2.3 | 10.3 | |
Top Five Producers Average REE Content | 19.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | |
Note: Kasiya Four-pit Average calculated as average of per-pit TREO basket ratios. See Appendix 1 & 2 for source detail.
The findings come as the U.S. accelerates efforts to decouple heavy rare earth supply chains from China — a supply-chain risk the U.S. Department of War has described as a matter of national security.
Kasiya, already at DFS stage with a US$2.2 billion pre-tax NPV8, contains the four magnetic rare earth elements plus highly critical Yttrium recoverable from the DFS flowsheet as a potential by-product alongside rutile and graphite.
An independent price report for a monazite concentrate has been prepared based on the composition of a 60% TREO basket. Due to the exceptionally high proportion of heavy rare earths within Kasiya’s TREO basket, the independent report has identified the potential for a premium to benchmark monazite prices. The 2026 forecast base-case price is US$16,000/t (high case US$19,000/t), against a current benchmark monazite concentrate (54-55% TREO grade) price of approximately US$6,142/t based on the Shanghai Metals Market.
Figure 1: Combined DyTb and Yttrium content in the TREO basket of Kasiya monazite concentrate (four-pit weighted average) vs the rare earth assemblages reported by the five largest global rare earth producers
(Sources: See Appendix 2)
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NEXT STEPS
- Further detailed mineralogical characterisation of the monazite across the pits tested, including liberation, grain size and deportment of uranium and thorium.
- Additional metallurgical testwork to assess potential downstream processing pathways for the monazite concentrate.
- Characterisation of monazite grades and recoveries and marketable product volumes
- Study to assess the economic uplift from incorporating monazite as a bolt-on to the existing DFS flowsheet.
- Continued engagement with potential offtake partners and government stakeholders in relation to the heavy rare earth co-product opportunity.
Enquiries
Frank Eagar, Managing Director & CEO
South Africa / Malawi
+27 21 140 3190
Sapan Ghai, CCO
London
+44 207 478 3900
Competent Persons Statement
The information in this report that relates to Metallurgical Testwork is based on information compiled by Mr Andries Willem Kruger, a Competent Person, who is a Member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions, a Recognised Professional Organisation’ (RPO) included in a list promulgated by ASX from time to time. Mr Kruger is employed by Sovereign and is a holder of ordinary shares and unlisted performance rights in Sovereign. Mr Kruger has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr Kruger consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
The information in this announcement that relates to the DFS (including Mine Engineering, Mine Scheduling, Processing, Infrastructure, Capital and Operating Costs, Production Target and Ore Reserves) is extracted from an announcement dated 16 April 2026, which is available to view at www.sovereignmetals.com.au. Sovereign confirms that a) it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original announcement; b) all material assumptions included in the original announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed; and c) the form and context in which the relevant Competent Persons’ findings are presented in this announcement have not been materially changed from the original announcement.
Forward Looking Statement
This release may include forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "projects", "plans", and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on Sovereign’s expectations and beliefs concerning future events. Forward looking statements are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Sovereign, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Sovereign makes no undertaking to subsequently update or revise the forward-looking statements made in this release, to reflect the circumstances or events after the date of that release.
This announcement has been approved and authorised for release by the Company’s Managing Director & CEO, Frank Eagar.
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