• Sovereign Metals signs MoU with Traxys to market graphite from Kasiya

• Traxys selected under Washington’s $12 billion “Vault” program

• Kasiya still in development, with final feasibility study due this year

After targeting the Kipushi mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.S. initiative to build a strategic stockpile of critical minerals is now turning to the Kasiya project in Malawi. Australian company Sovereign Metals announced on February 17 the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Traxys for the marketing of graphite from the future mine. Traxys is one of the commodity traders selected by Washington under the program.

Known as Project Vault, the $12 billion U.S. strategic stockpile initiative aims to protect American manufacturers from supply disruptions and reduce dependence on Chinese supply. Shortly after its announcement earlier this month, the initiative became involved in the Kipushi zinc mine, where Ivanhoe Mines, Gécamines and trader Mercuria, a Vault participant, are in discussions to channel part of the production to the United States.

With Traxys expressing interest, Kasiya positions itself as another African project linked to a trader participating in Project Vault. According to Sovereign Metals, the proposed partnership could cover five to ten years of production, with an initial annual allocation of 40,000 tons of graphite concentrate to the trading company. As with the Kipushi initiative, the Malawi agreement remains under negotiation, with both parties working toward a binding contract.

The chief executive of Sovereign Metals said the company welcomes the appointment of Traxys as a potential marketing partner for graphite, noting that the trader is one of the world’s leading physical commodity trading houses and was selected this month as one of only three firms responsible for sourcing critical minerals under Project Vault.

Traxys’ move into Kasiya comes as graphite is listed among minerals considered critical for U.S. industrial supply chains. In addition to graphite, a key material for battery production, rutile is the other product Sovereign Metals plans to extract at the site. More recently, the company also reported potential rare earths mineralization, another group of metals viewed as strategic by the United States.

Unlike Kipushi, which is already in production, Kasiya remains under development. Sovereign plans to update the project’s economic parameters in a definitive feasibility study expected this year. No production start date has yet been announced for the project, which carries an estimated capital cost of $665 million.

Aurel Sèdjro Houenou