Australian Vanadium (ASX:AVL) reports that drilling of 10 metallurgical quality (HQ3 size) diamond holes has been launched at its namesake project at Gabanintha, south of Meekatharra in Western Australia.
The DD campaign, comprising 10 drillholes for 900m, will provide additional core for variability studies on the concentrate vanadium grade and the FeTi coproduct at the southern ore blocks 50, 60, and 70, in preparation for the mining phase at the Australian Vanadium Project.
The company also hopes that this mining campaign will aid in the enhancement of the Mineral Resources at the start of mining.
With the DD campaign now underway, Australian Vanadium announces that it will move forward with follow-up infill reverse circulation (RC) drilling and grade control level verification of initial mining blocks to further improve the Mineral Resources.
Speaking on the drilling campaign, Australian Vanadium Managing Director Vincent Algar said: “The excellent geological and metallurgical body of work already completed by AVL’s technical team across the Project has provided the Company with a unique understanding of the orebody.
“This program is about identifying further value which can add significantly to the Project”
This program is about identifying further value which can add significantly to the project, as well as confirming the early Reserves which are a must for banks and institutional investors as the project moves towards final funding, approval, and development.
The effect of material variability and potential additional value from the southern ore blocks’ feed to the Project is a key value initiative underway by the AVL team in the current post-BFS, pre-Final Investment Decision (FID) work.”
The company also notes that verification of vanadium concentrate grades greater than 1.39% V2O5 used within the Bankable Feasibility Study in the early years of production could positively impact project economics.
In addition, the growth potential of the V205 and FeTi coproduct is also supported by recent studies, which have confirmed near surface opportunities and up to 61% Fe in beneficiation of historical core samples.
The Australian Vanadium Project is located about 43km south of the mining township of Meekatharra in Western Australia and consists of a high-grade V-Ti-Fe deposit, as well as 15 tenements that cover a total land area of 200km-square with the company owning 100% interest.
The project also covers a total Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 239Mt @ 0.73% V2O5, with 82.4Mt @ 0.70% V2O5 and 145.3Mt @ 0.71% V2O5 belonging in the Indicated and Inferred MRE categories respectively.
Images: Australian Vanadium Ltd
