Date: May 23, 2018
Australian Vanadium Ltd (ASX:AVL) has added another saleable battery metal opportunity to its flagship Gabanintha Vanadium Project with cobalt, nickel and copper recovered in a sulphide concentrate.
Bench-scale tests on Gabanintha fresh high-grade massive magnetite have resulted in the recoveries from non-magnetic stream.
Sulphide concentrates produced from flotation contain 3.8 to 6.3% base metals, including 1.54 to 2.02% cobalt, 1.36 to 2.58% nickel and 0.82 to 1.70% copper.
A sulphide recovery circuit will now be evaluated as part of the pre-feasibility study (PFS) processing flowsheet for the project in Western Australia.
Shares are up almost 10% to 4.5 cents.
Managing director Vincent Algar said: “Since we initially identified this opportunity, we have been interested in its implications for the project.
“Adding a high-value battery focused metal to the product suite at Gabanintha could potentially prove an important revenue stream.
“This would further enable AVL’s Gabanintha project to be on the lowest end of the vanadium cost curve.”
The company previously reported significant cobalt assays from drilling in fresh rock containing vanadium in magnetite.
Cobalt pricing is at all-time highs due to its position as a strategic battery metal.
