HIGHLIGHTS
Up to 66.3% Fe2 in magnetic concentrate produced fromfresh massive magnetite unit at the Yarrabubba IronVanadiumProject (formerly Southern Tenement).
Contained vanadium grade of up to 1.73% V2O5 Very low levels of deleterious elements including <0.5% SiO2 and ~1.0% Al2O3 indicating scope to produce a premium Platts 65 product.
Life-of-mine iron-vanadium offtake and EPC Letter of Intent1 executed with Sinosteel Australia.
Testwork progressing on remaining five compositesamples across the various mineralised layers.
BACKGROUND
Technology Metals Australia Limited (ASX: TMT) (“Technology Metals” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce magnetic concentrate testwork
results from the massive magnetite unit at the Yarrabubba Iron-Vanadium Project (“Yarrabubba Project”) (formerly the Southern Tenement), a satellite project to the Gabanintha Vanadium Project (“GVP”). Initial batches of magnetic separation testwork have identified the opportunity to produce a high grade, high purity iron-vanadium concentrate (“Yarrabubba High Grade Iron-Vanadium Product”) containing up to 66.3% Fe and 1.73% V2O5, with scope to meet the premium Platts 65 product specifications. The Company is also pleased to announce that it has entered into a nonbinding Letter of Intent (“LoI”) with Sinosteel Australia Pty Ltd (“Sinosteel”) with regard to negotiating a life-of-mine offtake agreement over the Yarrabubba High Grade Iron-Vanadium product (“Offtake”) and an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) contract with Sinosteel’s affiliate Sinosteel Equipment & Engineering Co., Ltd (“MECC”). Managing Director Ian Prentice commented: “The emergence of this opportunity to produce a high grade, high purity Fe-V magnetic concentrate, the Yarrabubba High Grade Iron-Vanadium Product, is a major breakthrough for the Company, potentially delivering a low entry cost project that is complimentary to, and expected to reduce funding and implementation risk of, the GVP. This premium product is expected to be well received by the steel industry, underlined by the support of a global industry leader in Sinosteel Australia.”
The Yarrabubba Iron-Vanadium Project (formerly Southern Tenement), located on granted Mining Lease M51/884, is a satellite project to the globally significant GVP, a lowest cost quartile, large scale, long life World class vanadium development project . Note that the Yarrabubba Project was not included in the GVP DFS.
Previously reported Davis Tube Recovery (“DTR”) testing, an effective proxy for Low Intensity Magnetic Separation (“LIMS”), undertaken on RC samples from the Yarrabubba Project highlighted an average iron grade of 60.5% and V2O5 grade of 1.50% across all material types at the 250 micron grind size, with an average mass recovery of 59.1%. This work also confirmed very high mass recovery to a magnetic concentrate for fresh massive magnetite samples, with an average of 72% (see ASX announcement dated 30 April 2020).
The Company has now commenced a program of LIMS testwork on seven (7) composite samples formed from the PQ diamond drill holes; two (2) massive fresh composites, three (3) hangingwall fresh
omposites, one footwall fresh composite and one transitional composite, to verify the DTR results and assess iron and vanadium grades and recoveries at a range of grind sizes. Each composite has been milled down to eight (8) different grind sizes, ranging from 1,000 micron down to 32 micron, with each size passed through triple pass LIMS at 1200 Gauss. Assay results have now been received for the two (2) massive fresh composites, confirming scope to produce a high grade, high purity iron-vanadium magnetite concentrate, with up to 66.3% Fe at 80.6%
recovery and 1.73% V2O5 at 90% recovery for massive fresh one (MASFR1) at a 32 micron grind size. The average results for the two massive fresh composites at a 32 micron grind size are 64.9% Fe, 1.66% V2O5, 6.04% TiO2, 0.18% SiO2 and 0.99% Al2O3. See Tables 1 and 2 for assay results for the range of grind sizes for MASFR1 and MASFR2 respectively, confirming very high recoveries of iron and vanadium ranging from 80.6 to 93.7% and 90.0 to 96.6% respectively. The LIMS testing of the two (2) massive fresh composites showed clear potential to discriminate between vanadiferous iron (V+Fe) phases and titanium (TiO2) containing phases across the range of grind sizes, with the majority of TiO2 rejected to the non-magnetic tails stream.
Importantly the testwork on the two (2) massive fresh composites has shown very high rejection of deleterious elements, delivering very low impurity iron-vanadium magnetite concentrates at the 32 micron grind size (see Tables 3 and 4 for assay results of potential impurities for MASFR1 and MASFR2 respectively). The high iron grades combined with the very low levels of impurities from this initial testwork demonstrates the scope for the Yarrabubba High Grade Iron-Vanadium Product to meet or exceed the premium Platts 65 product specifications.
Testwork is progressing on the five (5) remaining composite samples, with assay results for these composites expected in the coming weeks. The data from the seven (7) composites will provide a guide to the optimum blend of material types to deliver a consistent premium iron – vanadium product from the Yarrabubba Project. Further testwork is underway assessing the alteration in mineralogy that has led to these outstanding results and investigation of the components of the non magnetic tails stream.
The Yarrabubba Project’s high grade massive magnetite unit hosts an Indicated and Inferred mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) of 14.4Mt at 48.1% Fe and 1.1% V2O5, within the overall Yarrabubba Project Indicated and Inferred MRE of 27.7Mt at 38.7% Fe and 0.9% V2O5 (see ASX announcement 1 July 2020). The Yarrabubba Project’s Indicated MRE stands at 9.6Mt at 45.3% Fe and 1.0% V2O5 and includes a large proportion of the high grade massive magnetite unit. This material consists of only fresh mineralisation as informed by Davis Tube Recovery testwork, with fresh ore commencing from 10 to 15m below surface. The predominantly transitional material and minor oxide above these depths is
classified as Inferred.
CSA Global have previously prepared a Maiden Probable Ore Reserve estimate for M51/884 of 9.4Mt at 45.3% Fe and 0.97% V2O5, to provide additional feed to the proposed GVP (high purity V2O5) processing plant located in the Northern Block (see ASX announcement dated 16 September 2020). There is a very strong correlation between contained iron and vanadium within the Yarrabubba
Project mineralisation, however additional metallurgical testwork, engineering work and assessment of relevant modifying factors is required to assess the tenor and quantum of a possible Ore Reserve for the premium Yarrabubba High Grade Iron-Vanadium Product. The deposit is hosted within mafic, ultramafic, extrusive and volcaniclastic rocks of the Gabanintha formation. The mineralisation is hosted in a differentiated gabbro closely associated with a series of massive to disseminated V-Ti-Fe bands ranging in size from a few metres up to 20–30 m thick. The mineralised units are offset and disrupted by later dolerites, faults and quartz porphyries, with a total of 14 faults interpreted to be younger than, and hence limit, offset or displace the mineralised zones. A surface colluvium layer is interpreted to blanket the mineralisation except where the massive magnetite unit outcrops. The mineralised layers strike approximately 125° to 305°, dipping on average approximately 55° towards 215°, with a modelled strike extent of approximately 1.6 km. The massive magnetite unit has
a true thickness varying between approximately 5 m up to 25 m, with an average of approximately 11 m. The banded or disseminated magnetite mineralisation is interpreted to consist of up to 4 separate lenses, three in the hanging wall above the massive magnetite and one in the footwall. The cumulative true thickness of these mineralisation lenses is roughly between 7 m and 25
m.
OFFTAKE AND EPC LETTER OF INTENT EXECUTED WITH SINOSTEEL AUSTRALIA
The Company and Sinosteel Australia Pty Ltd (“Sinosteel”) have entered in to a non-binding Letter of Intent (“LoI”) with regard to negotiating a life-of-mine offtake agreement over the premium Yarrabubba High Grade Iron-Vanadium product (“Offtake”) and entering in to an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) contract with Sinosteel’s affiliate Sinosteel Equipment & Engineering Co., Ltd(“MECC”).
The Offtake framework developed in the LoI includes:
• pricing to be based on the Platts 65% Fe Index Price (FOB) for contained iron and the FerroAlloyNet China V2O5 Index Price (FOB) for V2O5;
• annual quantity of up to 1.5 Mtpa of Yarrabubba High Grade Iron-Vanadium product, subject to the product meeting defined quality specifications;
• and a term equal to the Yarrabubba life-of-mine.
The EPC contract will be subject to agreed competitive commercial terms and the availability of commercially viable project finance and will include the processing plant infrastructure, nonprocessing infrastructure and ancillary facilities. It is intended that the EPC contractor will manage the Project implementation through to commercial production, including pre-defined recovery and
Product purity milestones, and engage with Australian engineering groups to assist as required. The parties intend to enter into negotiations that may lead to binding agreements for Offtake, EPC or
both.
ABOUT SINOSTEEL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Sinosteel Australia Pty Ltd established an office in Perth in 1991 following the signing of the Channar Mining Joint Venture (“CMJV”) agreement with Rio Tinto Iron Ore in 1987, which was the first overseas investment by a Chinese SOE. Its has been part of the Western Australia business community for almost 30 years and in that time the company has fostered strong stakeholder and business networks
within the local community. Sinosteel Australia Pty Ltd is a subsidiary of Sinosteel Corporation headquartered in Beijing, which is one of China’s largest state owned enterprises. Sinosteel Corporation is involved in developing and processing of metallurgical mineral resources, trading and logistics of metallurgical raw materials and products, related engineering technical services and equipment manufacturing. Sinosteel Corporation has a clearly-defined core business that integrates resource development, trade and logistics, project engineering and science and technology. It provides a comprehensive and fully integrated service to support steel mills and related industries.
Sinosteel is one of the first state-owned enterprises that took on a global approach by launching a successful mineral resource project overseas. It is a raw material supplier and sales-agent for major Chinese steel mills and is among the leading traders in China for iron ore, chrome ore, DRI, fluorspar, coke, manganese ore, scrap, steel products, magnetite and rare earths. Sinosteel Australia Pty Ltd has 2 main business focuses being the Channar mining Iron Ore Joint Venture as well as business development activities centred on supporting Australian industries through supplying quality Sinosteel and other Chinese manufactured products.
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