Australian Vanadium’s mining and vanadium electrolyte production plans have received a boost from the Federal Government’s 10-year roadmap for critical minerals.
The Federal Government’s Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing road map was aimed at leveraging Australia’s critical mineral and resources sector to create more jobs and economic opportunities for manufacturing businesses.
It sets out goals and opportunities along with goals and benchmarks for the sector.
More importantly, manufacturers now have access to grants under the government’s $1.3bn Modern Manufacturing Initiative to help scale-up production, commercialise products and tap into global supply chains.
Australian Vanadium (ASX:AVL) managing director Vincent Algar welcomed the Government’s 10-year roadmap, saying the company had a long-held belief in the importance of adding value to mined minerals here in Australia.
“The old ‘dig and ship’ mentality needs to change and having the support of the Federal Government only helps companies such as AVL and VSUN Energy to achieve these goals,” he noted.
“With our Major Project Status and contacts through Austrade, we are in a strong position to leverage the critical and battery mineral narrative, adding economic value for Australia through royalties, job creation and a positive impact on associated industries in Western Australia and across the country. It is significant to note the impact AVL has had on ensuring that vanadium is at the forefront of government strategies in this area.”
Vanadium mining and batteries
Australian Vanadium plans to process vanadium mined from its namesake project through to critical and battery mineral grade products at a coastal processing plant location in Western Australia.
In December, the company updated the pre-feasibility for the Australian Vanadium project that substantially improved economics, particularly operating cost.
Cash costs of $US3.66/lb makes the project near Meekatharra, Western Australia, competitive with global primary vanadium producers, while economics and mine life have also improved substantially.
Vanadium is classed as a critical mineral due to its use in alloyed steel, which is needed for defence and aerospace applications.
It is also used in steel for the construction industry and in the battery sector for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs).
Additionally, the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary VSUN Energy will add further value and job creation through the manufacture of vanadium electrolyte for VRFBs.
Manufacturing will be carried out initially in Western Australia, with scaled up production to be located near to VRFB installations such as the 2MW/8MWh and 50MW/200MWh batteries planned for installation in South Australia.
VSUN Energy also installs and maintains VRFBs across Australia from its base in Perth.
This growth industry, which is a perfect fit for the government’s critical minerals roadmap, provides the opportunity for further job creation and value addition to the vanadium that will be mined by AVL in Western Australia.
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