Tivan (ASX:TVN) has upgraded the mineral resource at its Speewah Fluorite Project in Western Australia, confirming the project as ‘one of the largest high-grade fluorite resources globally’.
Tivan, which has a market capitalisation of $82 million, says Speewah now hosts a JORC-complaint indicated and inferred resource of 37.3 million tonnes at 9.1% calcium fluoride (CaF2), containing 3.39 million tonnes CaF2.
The MRE — which was prepared by SRK Consulting — represents a 37% increase in tonnage, based on a 2% CaF2 cut-off grade, and a 28% increase at a 10% CaF2 cut-off grade, compared to the prior resource estimate in 2018.
“The size, grade, location, and mineralogy confirms this as a world-class resource,” Executive Chairman Grant Wilson says.
“As the sole JORC-compliant fluorite resource in Australia, it is also a unique opportunity for Tivan to produce and export acid grade fluorspar, a critical and structurally scarce feedstock for electric vehicle batteries and semiconductor manufacturing.”
A drill program is now being planned with the aim to further expand the resource, targeting fluorite mineralisation along strike of and below the existing resource, as well as at proximal veins outside of the mineral resource.
Both Tivan and SRK are evaluating the development of an exploration target for Speewah, in support of the proposed resource extension drilling. The evaluation will identify target areas with existing geological data relating to the fluorite mineralisation that were categorised as insufficient to increase in the resource update.
Tivan says this will enable an exploration target to be presented as an estimated range of tonnes and grades in terms of attainable exploration potential. This is anticipated to be completed in May 2024.
Once the drilling has been completed, the results will be incorporated into the resource model and a subsequent mineral resource update will be undertaken.
The updated resource is expected to provide the basis for a Pre-Feasibility Study update.
Wilson adds that the company is continuing to make rapid progress on all aspects of project facilitation.
“By integrating our studies with ongoing resource expansion, the fundamentals of the Speewah Fluorite Project will be optimised.”
The Speewah Fluorite Project forms part of the broader Speewah Project, which lies 100km south of the port of Wyndham in the Kimberley region of north-east Western Australia. The project covers a 226km2 area consisting of seven granted tenements,
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Tivan
