VRX Silica (ASX:VRX) successfully tests water production bore at Arrowsmith North

Highlights

• VRX Silica Limited (ASX:VRX) has completed the construction and testing of water production bore at Arrowsmith North.
• A test production bore and two monitoring bores have been drilled and constructed as part of the application for a 5C Licence to Take Water.
• The test pumping has confirmed a reliable supply of water to the Arrowsmith North project within specification.

Australian silica sand player VRX Silica Limited (ASX:VRX) has recently announced the successful completion of the construction and testing of its water production bore at the Arrowsmith North Silica Sand Project.

The bores have been constructed to specifications outpacing the Minimal Construction Requirements for Water Bores in Australia. Moreover, the construction has been undertaken as specified by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation.

VRX Silica further informed that a test production bore and two monitoring bores, a shallow and a deep, have been drilled and constructed by Western Drilling on the Arrowsmith North miscellaneous licence L70/199. The drilling has been done as part of the application for a 5C Licence to Take Water in Western Australia.

Testing of water production bore at Arrowsmith North

As per VRX Silica, the test production bore has been screened in the confined Yarragadee Formation Unit A aquifer, with the installation of screens between 320 metres and 392  metres depth. The 250mm FRP (Fiber-reinforced plastic) casing has been cement grouted from 0 – 300 metres to obstruct ingress of water from the superficial aquifer or other parts of the Yarragadee Formation.

Notably, the deep monitoring bore has been constructed similar to the test production bore, with the screening and grouting over similar intervals. The shallow monitoring bore has been screened from 18 – 30 metres in the superficial aquifer.

Western Irrigation conducted test pumping (aquifer performance test) to AS2368-1990 using their mobile test pumping equipment. The initial multi-rate testing was conducted to ascertain a constant rate test rate.

The constant rate test was performed at 30L/s for 1,990 minutes for a maximum drawdown of 6.20 metres in the pumping bore, 2.71 metres in the deep observation bore and no motion in the shallow observation bore. The highest rate of 32L/s returned a maximum drawdown of 6.12 metres.

Also Read: VRX Silica’s new milestone: EPA approves Environmental Scoping Document for Arrowsmith North

Results of test pumping

The preliminary assessment of the constant rate test data suggests a transmissivity of more than 900m³/d/m, which leads to a hydraulic conductivity of over 10m/d.

VRX Silica highlighted that the controlled test pumping shows that the confined Yarragadee Formation Unit A aquifer can yield the project requirements of 900,000kL per annum. It is worth noting that the test production bore has been constructed to yield in the order of 1,200,000kl per annum.

Additionally, the analysis of water samples taken at the time of test pumping confirmed the water is of acceptable quality for use as process water in VRX Silica’s planned silica sand process plant.

In line with the indicative timetable now available to VRX Silica, the Company expects to commence Arrowsmith North’s six-month construction period in January 2023.

VRX Silica shares last traded at AU$0.170 on 28 March 2022.

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