Date: Oct 8, 2018
Junior explorer Tando Resources (ASX: TNO) has completed its acquisition of the SPD vanadium discovery in the Limpopo province of South Africa, locking in the right to earn a 73.95% stake of the high-grade project and paving the way for a series of pre-development milestones.
Under the acquisition agreement, Tando will establish a JORC-compliant measured resource, and complete scoping, pre-feasibility and definitive feasibility studies at the project before moving towards operations.
The first milestone is underway, with the company recently launching a $1.4 million maiden drilling campaign focused on converting the existing resource to JORC status.
Phase 1 of the campaign has been fast-tracked for completion by month end, with a third diamond-core rig mobilised to drill out the “foreign resource” of 513 million tonnes grading 0.78% vanadium pentoxide.
Tando said it plans to commence the “highly anticipated” drilling of high-grade vanadium pipes surrounding the SPD deposit in mid-October.
Samples taken from the pipes, which start from surface, have returned “extremely high grades” of vanadium, highlighting the project’s potential to underpin a low-cost direct shipping ore operation which could generate early cashflow for the junior.
Tando managing director Bill Oliver said the company’s strategy at SPD was proceeding to plan.
“We are delighted with the rapid progress we are making on the ground,” he said.
