Bushveld Minerals Limited (AIM: BMN), the AIM listed, integrated primary vanadium producer, with ownership of high grade vanadium assets, is pleased to provide a maiden Mineral Resource estimate for the Brits Vanadium Project (the “Brits Project”). The Brits Project is located on Portion 3 of the farm Uitvalgrond 431 JQ, near the town of Brits in the North West Province of South Africa and is directly along strike from the Bushveld Vametco Alloys Mine (Bushveld-Vametco). The maiden Mineral Resource incorporates data from the 2018 drilling campaign comprising 26 drill holes over a total of 2,967m of diamond drilling.
The Mineral Resource is reported in accordance with the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (The JORC Code) and is classified into the Indicated and Inferred Categories in Table 1 below.
Key Highlights
· The aggregate Inferred and Indicated Mineral Resource distributed across the three seams (the Lower, Intermediate, and Upper Seams) is reported as 66.8Mt at an average grade of 1.58 per cent V2O5 in magnetite, at a cut-off grade of 20 per cent magnetite in whole rock for 175,400 tonnes of contained vanadium.
· The Indicated Mineral Resource tonnages account for 67 per cent of the total combined Mineral Resource and stand at 44.9Mt with an average grade of 1.59 per cent V2O5 in magnetite for 115,600 tonnes of contained vanadium across the three seams.
· The Lower Seam represents a major portion of the total combined Mineral Resource tonnages at the cut-off grade of 20 per cent, with 55.5 Mt at an average grade of 1.58 per cent V2O5 in magnetite for 137,000 tonnes of contained vanadium. This represents approximately 83 per cent of the total combined tonnage of the maiden Mineral Resource.
· Within the combined Mineral Resource, the Intermediate Seam has the highest grade of the three seams at 1.76 per cent V2O5 in magnetite though the tonnages are low at the current cut-off grade of 20 per cent magnetite in whole rock.
· A geological trend of decreasing grade in vanadium for magnetite-rich layers from west to east in the Bushveld Complex accounts for the lower grades on the Brits Project in comparison to the grades at the operating Vametco Mine.
· The Mineral Resource is reported up to a depth of 150m below surface and based on the drilling on the western and central blocks of the farm Uitvalgrond Portion 3 which extends over a strike length of approximately 1.65km to the most eastern fault where the last line of drilling was completed. As such there is potential to increase the resource on the remaining eastern unexplored portion of the farm on a strike length of 1km.
ABOUT BUSHVELD MINERALS LIMITED
Bushveld Minerals is a low cost, integrated, primary vanadium producer, with ownership of high grade vanadium assets.
The Company’s flagship vanadium platform includes a 74 per cent controlling interest in Bushveld Vametco Alloys (Pty) Ltd, a primary vanadium mining and processing company; the Mokopane Vanadium Project and the Brits Vanadium Project.
Bushveld’s vision is to become a significant, low cost, integrated primary vanadium producer through owning high grade assets. This incorporates development and promotion of the role of vanadium in the growing global energy storage market through Bushveld Energy, the Company’s energy storage project developer and component manufacturer. Whilst the demand for vanadium remains largely anchored in the steel industry, Bushveld Minerals believes there is strong potential for an imminent and significant global vanadium demand surge from the fast-growing energy storage market, particularly through the use and adoption of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries.
While the Company’s focus is on vanadium operations and the development and promotion of VRFBs, it has additional investments in coal, power and tin.
The Company’s approach to project development recognises that, whilst attractive project economics are imperative, they are insufficient to secure capital to bring them to account. A clear path to production within a visible timeframe, low capital expenditure requirements and scalability are important factors in ensuring a positive return on investment. This philosophy is core to the Company’s strategy in developing projects.
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