Inside Vanadium Resources (ASX:VR8) June quarter: Dual listing and Steelpoortdrift DFS on track

Highlights

• Vanadium Resources is engaged in developing one of the world’s largest and highest grade vanadium deposits in South Africa.
• The company successfully listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange during the June quarter.
• The metallurgical testworks on the bulk samples from the Steelpoortdrift deposit suggested elevated recoveries as compared to the PFS.
• The company is progressing well on the Steelpoortdrift DFS, which remains on time and on budget.  

Vanadium Resources Limited (ASX:VR8|DAX:TR3) has released its quarterly activities report for the period ended 30 June 2022. The company’s activities during the reported period were focused on the flagship Steelpoortdrift Vanadium Project, which sits within the world-class Bushveld complex in South Africa.

The company is currently progressing the Steelpoortdrift Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), aimed at optimum mining operations and developing a concentrator and salt roast plant with an initial annual capacity of 12,500tpa of V₂O₅ flake.

The facility is estimated to entail an investment of around US$200 million and generate an attributable NPV₈ (net present value post-tax) of US$884 million (AU$1.27Bn) at an IRR (internal rate of return) of 45%.

Successful dual listing  

One of the major highlights of the quarter was the successful dual listing of the company on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

With an objective to enhance its investors’ reach and gain exposure to the European market, VR8 got listed with the ticker code TR3 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, which is among the largest exchanges in Europe. More than 50% of the trade on the exchange comes from investors from outside Germany.

European countries are investing heavily in renewables and green technology. This has created enormous interest among the investors, who are eyeing companies operating in the green tech or green energy space.

Vanadium is expected to play a critical role in battery storage technology in the years to come, making it a commodity of global significance.

To learn more about VR8, click here.

Steelpoortdrift DFS developments progressing well

During the period, VR8 completed a trial mining and bulk sampling campaign over the project to extract fresh mineralised material for undertaking a pilot plant metallurgical testwork. The samples were taken from a depth of 2-3m, thus no blasting was done during the trial mining.

A total of 40 tonnes of the sample was mined, out of which 15 tonnes were mined from the lower magnetite zone, classified as fresh high-grade material. These mined materials were sent to a lab in South Africa for a concentrator pilot plant test campaign.

The concentrated material received after the concentrator process was sent to another lab for conducting Salt Roast and Leach (SRL) testwork, which involved four steps.

Image source: VR8 update, 22 June 2022

1. Roasting of the concentrate material in the presence of sodium salts at 1200⁰C for four hours.
2. The roasted material was then water leached.
3. Desilification circuit
4. The last circuit included ammonium meta-vanadate precipitation.

Test results (Image source: VR8 update, 28 July 2022)

The magnetic separation process achieved a 96% recovery of concentrate grades above 2.1% V₂O₅, while the SRL process resulted in recoveries in excess of 87%, taking the overall project recovery to 84%. This is 3-4% higher than what was achieved during the PFS.

This means that 4% additional products are under the same design parameters and without any additional costs.

The testworks also highlighted the low concentration of 1.1-1.3% of silica in the magnetically separated material. Now silica is processing waste, requiring a reagent for its removal. Low silica content means higher downstream efficiencies for VR8 and cost benefits.

VR8 informed that the DFS remains on budget and on time with completion expected by the end of Q3 2022.   

VR8 shares were trading at AU$0.078 midday on 4 August 2022.