Highlights:

• Surefire (ASX:SRN) is riding high on the back of the encouraging final assays from the recently completed RC drilling at its Victory Bore Vanadium Deposit.
• The company’s interpretation of the historical high-resolution aeromagnetic data has identified a mystery lode 75m to the west of the West Lode.
• SRN now has sufficient drilling data for three lodes of the four lodes recognised so far, to feature in the upcoming Prefeasibility Study.

Shares of Surefire Resources NL (ASX:SRN) edged up by 13% to trade at AU$0.017 in the morning hours of 16 January 2023.

The uptick in the share price was triggered by the company’s update on the encouraging third and final tranche of assay results from the recently completed reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its 100%-owned Victory Bore Vanadium Deposit.  

Victory Bore drilling delivers encouraging vanadium mineralisation  

Surefire designed a 5,189m drilling program comprising 62 holes with the aim to in-fill existing drill sections at a close-spaced resource drilling proximity of approximately 25 x 100m spacing in preparation for a Prefeasibility Study (PFS).

It has outlined four parallel vanadium mineralised lodes. As per the results, these lodes lie within a broad vanadium-mineralised envelope, featuring excellent continuity throughout the drill tested and massive mineralised widths of vanadium pentoxide. The mineralisation is open at width, depth, and strike.

Surefire has emphasised that the drilling campaigns have stretched the mineralised envelope towards the west.

(Data source: SRN update dated 16 January 2023)

Data review of the geophysics image has provided one historical partial drilling intercept. Hole VC0901 was not assayed from the surface to a depth of 151m and from 188m to 192m.

The assay results for VC0901 pretty much aped the current mineralised lodes in vanadium pentoxide tenor, indicating: 

Main, Central and West: sufficiently drilled lodes to feature in PFS

Surefire has also highlighted that it has sufficiently drilled three lodes (Main, Central and West) out of the four lodes to feature in the upcoming PFS.

Surefire believes that the massive lode widths would permit bulk mining methods with a reduced mining cost, dilution, and strip ratio.

Mystery Lode: identified 75m to the west of West Lode

The re-levelling and interpretation of historical high-resolution aeromagnetic data have produced an enhanced resolution image that has led to identifying and re-prioritising a new lode.

This new discovery, termed ”Mystery Lode”, is located 75m to the west of the West Lode and falls inside the open pit design.

(Data source: SRN update dated 16 January 2023) 

Way ahead at Victory Bore Vanadium Deposit

Surefire is progressing with the QA/QC verification of data which the company is planning to use to update and verify the drill hole database. After the verification, the company plans to submit the drill hole database for re-estimating the Mineral Resource to conform with the JORC resource criteria.

Backed by a positive Scoping Study assessment of the project, the company is moving ahead with the data compilation for the completion of the PFS.

In 2022, Surefire also applied for converting the Exploration Licence to a Mining Lease to the West Australian Department of Mining Industry Resources and Safety (DMIRS).