It heads first roughly westwards and then northwestwards, meandering in the floodplain in its lower course.

[3][1] Finally it flows into the right bank of the Maya 914 km (568 mi) from its mouth in The Aldan.

It freezes around late October and stays frozen until mid May.

[4][3][5] The main tributaries of the Mati are the 34 kilometres (21 mi) long Mira and the 29 kilometres (18 mi) long Kostyor from the left, as well as the 50 kilometres (31 mi) long Malinovaya (Machekha), the 44 kilometres (27 mi) long Cheryomukhovaya (Khusharin) and the 35 kilometres (22 mi) long Birandya from the right.

There are a few lakes close to the river channel in its last stretch.