The raising is being priced at 11c, with the funds going towards completion of all feasibility work for the proposed flake graphite project.

Scoping work completed earlier this year promoted Malingunde as a soft saprolite-hosted deposit capable of yielding “very low cost production with ‘best in class’ margins”.

In terms of specifics, the scoping assessment estimated development capital costs of US$29 million for an operation producing an average of 44,000 tonnes per annum of graphite concentrate at an average operating cost of $301/t.

For that production Sovereign modelled various “basket prices” for its graphite concentrate ranging from $600-1200/t, generating annual cashflow of between $12-37 million after royalty payments.

Middlemas has been and remains a backer of many ASX resource sector juniors over the years, with recent successes including Papillon Resources and Berkeley Energia.

Shares in Sovereign were off 8% to A12c in early trade capitalising the company at $26 million.