Fortuna Finds its Stride in Malawi
Early rutile signs and big infrastructure support set up steady news flow into year-end for FUN
Fortuna Metals (ASX: FUN) has wasted no time post-acquisition, with soil sampling completed and auger drilling underway at its Mkanda and Kampini projects in Malawi.
FUN, valued at $21 million, has already identified visible rutile, with the first laboratory results due in November.
For new readers, Fortuna is the junior we added to our Equities Club portfolio last week, drawn to its ground position and exposure to commodities with tightening supply.
Covering 658 square kilometres in the same geological belt as the $550 million Sovereign Metals' (ASX: SVM) world-class Kasiya deposit, FUN’s ground sits in a province that is rapidly emerging as a new hub for rutile and graphite.
When we added FUN to our portfolio, it more than doubled intraday before settling higher on strong volume. The stock has since found a level at 11c, showing how quickly investors understood the story.
FUN remains cheap despite the early move. It’s parked right next to one of the biggest rutile finds on the planet, and demand is heating up at the same time.
“It’s been a great achievement by the in-country team to be completing our phase one works as quickly and efficiently as we have done.”
- Fortuna Metals CEO Tom Langley
What Stands Out
The Next Door Neighbours
FUN sits along the same geological strike as Kasiya, where SVM found the world's largest rutile and second-largest graphite resource.
Number 1 shareholder Rio Tinto owns a beefy 18.5% of SVM, which tells you plenty about how the majors view this belt.
FUN is exploring the same Lilongwe Plain formation as SVM, where tropical weathering has pushed rutile close to surface. What that means is the company is not chasing an untested idea but drilling in proven mineralised terrain.
Early soil sampling work and auger drilling have already pulled visible rutile grains from the pan, with estimated in-situ grades of 0.75–1.5%.
For comparison, Sovereign is capped at $550M on the back of a billion-tonne resource grading just over 1%. If Fortuna proves even a fraction of that scale, an 11c share price leaves plenty of headroom.
358 soil samples are already en route to South Africa for lab testing, with results expected from November. That sets up steady news flow into year-end, and a short wait for potentially large gains.
Foreign Backing has Arrived
Less than two weeks ago, Japan announced a US$7 billion initiative to develop the Nacala Corridor, the preferred export route for SVMs' Kasiya project.
Japan has validated SVM's product for high-performance titanium markets, a burgeoning market.
Why this matters for FUN is that if the company can confirm a rutile discovery, it gets the same infrastructure backing without having to prove the export economics from scratch.
Logistics are often the biggest hurdle for African explorers. Yet, this corridor development could provide a reliable, low-cost pathway to international markets.
Japan's move removes a major future risk. It means that any discovery by FUN is now more likely to be commercialised, connected to demand, and positioned in a strategically supported supply chain.
Fuel for the Robot Age
Rutile is critical to the production of titanium dioxide, used everywhere from paint pigments to jet engines and increasingly in robotics. As the robotics revolution accelerates, natural rutile supply is tightening while established deposits deplete.
Bridging the gap in the interim is synthetic rutile, producing 30 times more greenhouse gas emissions than natural rutile, like Sovereign has. This is becoming a real problem as carbon pricing spreads globally and companies face pressure to clean up their supply chains.
Not only is natural rutile from Malawi emerging as a new centre of production with the world's largest deposit, but FUN is now positioned early in this supply story.
If FUN can prove up a deposit along strike from SVM, it taps into the same low-emission profile that's making Sovereign attractive to major buyers.
This translates into exposure to a commodity with strong demand, constrained supply, in a proven location, and increasing strategic importance. That’s why Malawi’s rutile story is only getting louder, and FUN is already in the chorus.
The Catalysts Ahead
FUN is moving fast in Malawi, with soil sampling done and auger drilling nearly wrapped up, with visible rutile grains showing up already
Lab results start flowing from November, setting up months of potential catalysts. That's a short timeline by exploration standards, especially for a stock that's already shown it can move on good news.
Assays plus reviews of government and historical data will keep the story moving.
FUN found rutile next door to the world's biggest rutile deposit while the market for rutile tightens, and it has a stream of news flow on the horizon.
True to its ticker, the fun is just getting started.
