Date: Feb 21, 2019
Tarku Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: TKU) (the “Company” or “Tarku”) announces that it has signed an option agreement with 5 arm’s length individuals (“Vendors”) to acquire 100% interest in the Lac Fabien vanadium project (“Project”) located in Quebec, Canada. The project is ideally located 130 km North West of Quebec City, 3km from the railroad that reaches port installations from the St-Laurence River to the south and Saguenay to the North (see press release from January 15, 2019).
Julien Davy, President and CEO of Tarku, stated: “We are very exited about this new opportunity to diversify Tarku’s portfolio. As project generator, we are engaged in exploring and discovering new resources in Quebec. Preliminary results from the magnetite concentrate returned values from 1.37 to 1.67% V2O5 in the central zone and the project is perfectly located to export potential ore to Canadian, American or worldwide markets. Compared to where the Vanadium is actually produced in the world, Quebec is the perfect stable jurisdiction to develop a Strategic Metal project in an environmentally-responsible and socially-acceptable manner”.
About Vanadium
Vanadium is a strategic mineral used as a strengthening alloy for steel and titanium as well as a chemical catalyst. Its recent price surge mainly resulting from the inability of global production to meet the significant increase in Vanadium demand in the construction sector. Vanadium prices are also rising thanks to the increasing use and development in Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) for long duration energy storage point that are quickly becoming the energy storage solution for peak-shaving, load-leveling, microgrids, wind and solar, off-grid power supplies, and uninterruptible power supplies.
There is actually no primary vanadium commercial production in North America as China, Russia and South Africa produce annually about 77% of global production. Secondary vanadium production exists but is processed from waste materials as petroleum residues, spent catalysts, utility ash, and vanadium-bearing pig iron slag. Tarku sees an opportunity to develop high quality and clean vanadium projects in a safe jurisdiction as Quebec Province.
Lac Fabien Vanadium Project
The project which is accessible by road, encompasses 37 mining titles and is located 130 km North West of Quebec City and at only 3km from the Lac St-Jean freight and passenger railroad. The Lac Fabien project initially highlighted its potential for magmatic Fe-Ti-V-P mineralization in 2001 (0.58% V2O5, 59.31% Fe2O3; GM 60997). The vanadium-rich magnetite sub vertical beds are hosted in layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions associated with anorthosite.
Recent exploration work returned over 25 grab samples containing > 0.25% V2O5 distributed in a 1.2 km by 300 m area. Results include 0.48% V2O5 on a grab sample and 11 m @ 0.22% V2O5 in channel samples. Preliminary results from Davis tube tests showed very good recovery of magnetite concentrate that returned values from 1.37 to 1.67% V2O5 and 55 to 65% Fe.
