Surefire Resources’ (ASX: SRN) Western Australia based projects see significant progress in 1HFY24 - Kalkine Media

Highlights

• Pre-feasibility study (PFS) of Victory Bore reported pre-tax NPV of US$1,110 million at a 10% discount rate.
• The mineral resource estimate of Victory Bore was upgraded considering a lower cut-off grade (V₂O₅) of 0.15%, earlier it was 0.26%.
• Recently completed metallurgical testwork at Yidby Project reported 68% increase in gold content over previous assays.

Surefire Resources NL (ASX: SRN) is a mineral exploration company which has mineral exploration licences for gold, magnetite and vanadium projects which lies in western Australia. During the half year ended 31 December 2023, the company was focused on progressing its high value portfolio of assets.

The period saw conclusion of pre-feasibility study at Victory Bore Vanadium Project and execution of agreements for supporting development of a downstream processing facility in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Encouraging PFS results from Victory Bore

During the latest half, the company had finalised the PFS at the Victory bore project with encouraging results.

More about Victory Bore Project

The mineral resource estimate (MRE) of the project has been upgraded. In the upgraded MRE, resource model remains same but change has been incorporated in reporting to include lower cut-off grade (V2O5) to 0.15% from 0.26%. This change has been introduced based on marginal cut-off grades ascertained at the time of PFS. Moreover, in the reporting, TiO2, Fe, Al2O3 and SiO2 grades have been incorporated.

Through economic assessment utilising open pit optimisation, the company converted the mineral resource into an ore reserve to delineate an economically viable mining shell. This was followed by pit design and scheduling life of mine.

The maiden probable ore reserve stood at 93 million tonnes at 0.35% V₂O₅, 5.2% TiO₂ and 19.8% Fe. It was in accordance with 2012 JORC code.

Development of a downstream processing facility at KSA progresses

During the half, the company signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to advance and assist its downstream processing facility at KSA.

MISA provides supportive and advisory services to organizations, assisting them in addressing their business needs and implementing local solutions. This is achieved by leveraging a wealth of global knowledge and experience.

Metallurgical testwork progresses at Yidby Gold project

On the Yidby project gold ore, the company had commenced a follow up column leach test work. This work was undertaken by ALS Metallurgical division, in Perth. The duration of the work was 70 days.

On 18 March 2024, after the end of half, the company released encouraging test work results. The test work reported 68% surge in gold content over the previous drill assays. The results indicated that there was substantial underreporting of previous gold grades.

SRN shares traded at AU$0.010 apiece at the time of writing on 19 March 2024.