Surefire Resources (ASX: SRN) shares soar on ‘breakthrough’ in vanadium extraction process - Kalkine Media

Highlights

• A breakthrough pre-treatment and leach process has been developed through laboratory test work.
• The process achieved vanadium extraction of 91% and titanium extraction of 88%, directly from Victory Bore magnetite concentrate.
• The process is planned to be employed in the development of Victory Bore Project.
• The company would assess capital cost and operating cost benefits.

Surefire Resources NL (ASX: SRN) has developed a breakthrough pre-treatment and leach process for vanadium extraction.

In the test work process, the company achieved vanadium extraction of 91% and titanium extraction of 88% directly from magnetite concentrate out of its Victory Bore Project, Western Australia.

The leach process was employed on pre-treated concentrate, enabling it to efficiently scavenge vanadium. This preliminary leaching treatment is an Intellectual Propertyof Surefire.

The breakthrough process, developed through laboratory test work, will be applied to the planned development of Victory Bore Project. Further test work needs to be conducted in the next phases leading to a pilot plant testing. The company would analyse the benefits associated with employing this process for the downstream process flow sheet. The possible capital cost and operating cost benefits will be evaluated. Moreover, the potential to licence the process for use on other vanadium resources will be evaluated.  

This development follows the conclusion of a pre-feasibility study on the Victory Bore deposit and signing of an MOU with Ajlan & Bros Mining and Metal group, a Saudi Arabian firm.

The process developed is expected to have low emissions.

The company intends to protect the process by a provisional patent application, owned completely by Surefire.

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The company had appointed METS Engineering in May 2023 to conduct additional metallurgical test work on the samples from Victory Bore project. The aim of the test work was to recover vanadium oxide of high purity in liquid form. The target was to use the outcome to recover a clean vanadium electrolyte, which targets the vanadium battery sector in Australasia.

After conducting a detailed literature review and evaluating all existing extraction processes, the METS team designed and established a direct leaching test work programme. Under the direction of METS, reporting and supervision was done. All test work was conducted at Western Australian laboratories.

Four distinct hydro-chemical tests were conducted on pre-treated magnetite concentrate (PTMC). The effective process is an adaption of multiple commercially scalable procedures utilised in the mineral resource industry and includes leaching under specific PTMC conditions.

The laboratory test work comprised baches of PTMC from the Victory Bore deposit, treated with four distinct leachants with catalysts, under multiple novel conditions.

The whole process combined the proprietary PTMC, novel conditions and leachant.

The process is planned to be employed in the development of Victory Bore Project.

SRN share price soars

SRN shares jumped over 38.8% during early trading hours on 24 January 2024 to trade at AU$0.012 apiece, with a market cap of AU$17.66 million.