- Australian Vanadium (AVL) has completed pilot scale pyrometallurgical testwork at the Metso testing facilities in the U.S.
- Tests and optimisation work focused on pelletised concentrates that were produced in a program completed in 2019
- The initial tests indicated that AVL’s vanadium-rich concentrates can deliver improved vanadium extraction compared to traditional processing methods
- Pleasingly, results confirmed vanadium roast and leach extractions of up to 94.9 per cent, which is higher than previous testing and the pre-feasibility study
- This work is part of AVL’s goal to develop and operate the world’s lowest-cost primary vanadium operation at its namesake project in Western Australia
- Company shares are trading flat at 2.1 cents
Australian Vanadium (AVL) has completed pilot scale pyrometallurgical test work at the Metso testing facilities in the U.S.
The program included detailed testing and optimisation work on pelletised concentrates with low impurities. These concentrates were produced by AVL’s 30-tonne crushing, milling and beneficiation (CMB) testwork program, which took place in 2019.
The initial CMB test work indicated that AVL’s vanadium-rich concentrates can deliver improved vanadium extraction relative to traditional rotary kiln processing applied in the pre-feasibility study (PFS).
Pleasingly, the final pyrometallurgy results have confirmed high combined vanadium roast and leach extractions of up to 94.9 per cent.
This confirms the initial pilot test results that were announced in July last year. AVL previously conducted bench scale testing which achieved an average extraction of 93.3 per cent — an 8 per cent improvement from the PFS.
The test work is part of AVL’s goal to develop and operate the world’s lowest cost primary vanadium operation at its namesake project in Western Australia.
Now that the pyrometallurgical test work has been completed, the company’s engineers are updating the design of the grate kiln area to support a bankable feasibility study.
AVL will continue working on producing high-purity vanadium products to further increase efficiency and improve certainty in the vanadium purification flowsheet design. This will be part of the processing plant at AVL’s Australian Vanadium Project.
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