Frank Eagar
CEO: Sovereign Metals
‘Sovereign is unlikely to struggle for support despite the prospect of losing Rio Tinto as a backer’
FRANK Eagar has his hands full this year. Aside from a relatively weak market for graphite – the battery mineral Sovereign aims to produce from its Kasiya Project in Malawi – the company is contending with business climate uncertainty. In late October, newly elected President Peter Mutharika signed an executive order prohibiting the export of raw minerals from the East African country. While the ban does not apply to Kasiya, analysts in Australia, where Sovereign is listed, said it had “thrown a shadow over the developing Malawian mining industry”. Rio Tinto’s involvement in Kasiya also hangs in the balance.
In March 2025, the diversified miner opted not to participate in Sovereign’s A$40m capital raising, diluting its stake to 18.45%. This is ominous considering that Rio Tinto’s new CEO Simon Trott plans to divest of the group’s titanium business as part of a portfolio overhaul that could materialise in a merger with Glencore, currently under discussion. It’s worth pointing out that Rio has operator rights over the project once a feasibility study is complete.
In positive news for Sovereign, the company unveiled a strategic collaboration with the World Bank’s commercial arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), to advance the sustainable development of Kasiya. The IFC will use its expertise to align Kasiya with its environmental, social and governance standards. The IFC also has rights to finance Kasiya, which implies Sovereign is unlikely to struggle for new backers given US interest in securing critical minerals.
LIFE OF FRANK
Frank Eagar is a chartered accountant who was educated at the University of South Africa and the University of Stellenbosch. After a stint as an internal auditor at BHP, he joined African mining-focused private equity firm AMED Funds, where he held chief financial officer roles at AMED-controlled companies Baobab Steel and Central Copper Resources. Eagar joined Sovereign in December 2022, initially as general manager of Africa, based in Malawi. He was promoted to managing director and chief executive in October 2023.
