Australian Vanadium has added one year to an agreement that would see the processing plant for its namesake project based near Geraldton in Western Australia.
The company has confirmed the processing plant’s location is ideal to ensure low-cost operations, with the extension marking the next step towards vanadium production by the company.
“During our 2019 feasibility work we indentified a potentially valuable opportunity in locating our vanadium processing plant near Geraldton,” Australian Vanadium managing director Vincent Algar said.
“This resulted in us searching for and securing a suitable location for our plant west of Mullewa, near Geraldton.
“Over the past year, as is shown in this announcement, we have confirmed that this processing plant location is ideal for the company.
“The extension of our option over the relevant land, for a modest option fee, is a logical step as we more forward with our feasibility work and towards production.”
Australian Vanadium plans to minimise operational costs by overtaking crushing, milling and beneficiation of vanadium bearing magnetite ore at its mine site, located 40 kilometres south of town of Meekatharra, then transporting the resulting concentrate to its processing plant for final refinement.
The company said the location of the plant enabled access to cheaper natural gas and prevented the requirement to build a gas pipeline on site which will also drive down costs.
The company also informed of an opportunity for a significant portion of the mine site to be powered by renewable energy, along with reduced mine site water requirements.
Lower construction and transportation costs are expected to be achieved, with local workers based in Geraldton reducing the mine site’s camp.
The Australian Vanadium project is one of the highest grade vanadium projects worldwide, with a proved resource of 9.82 million tonnes at 1.07 per cent vanadium pentoxide and probable reserve of 8.42 million tonnes at 1.01 per cent vanadium pentoxide.
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