Australian Vanadium Ltd’s (ASX:AVL) recent application for a Programme of Works (PoW) over the Coates vanadium deposit has been approved by the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
The application is for drilling up to 15 diamond core holes at the Coates deposit, concentrating on the Vacant Crown Land (VCL) portion of the tenement.
The intention is to prepare the diamond drill cores at a laboratory in Perth and then ship them to Montreal for metallurgical testing.
The Coates deposit is situated in the Shire of Northam about 35 kilometres east of Perth
AVL has signed a joint venture agreement with Ultra Power Systems (UPS) to develop the Coates vanadium deposit.
Under the terms of the joint venture agreement, UPS will spend $50,000 on exploration on the tenement within the first 12 months of the agreement and $150,000 during the first 24 months.
The drill program intends to determine the deposit’s suitability as a low-cost feed for a full commercial-scale processing plant which UPS proposes to build in Kwinana, WA.
The drilling will also enable a resource estimation of the Coates mineralisation to JORC standards to be produced by the AVL/UPS joint venture in 2020.
The VCL area is easily accessed and minimal clearing is required for the drill programme, much of which is on existing tracks.
The exploration diamond drilling will use PQ or HQ core and it will therefore be possible to obtain enough bulk sample for metallurgical testing.
The drilling of vertical holes and larger diameter core will ensure good sample recoveries in the laterite cap-rock, as well as the weathered gabbro.
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