Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited (LSE:FAR), the vanadium producer and developer of the large Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Southern Kazakhstan, is pleased to announce the production results of the Group’s existing operation for the first half of 2023.
Highlights
• All factory upgrades previously announced, focussed on increasing production and recovering more value from each tonne treated, now completed and in operation
• Following these upgrades, Q2 2023 was the best production quarter achieved by the Group to date in terms of both tonnes of concentrates treated and tonnes of metal recovered across all product lines • Secondary repulpation circuit for further vanadium recovery now in operation
• Successful conversion of ammonium metavanadate to vanadium pentoxide in new drying oven, dependent on customer requirements • All roasting equipment used by the Group to be powered by natural liquid gas, rather than diesel, from Q3 2023 onwards increasing reliability of supply, lowering costs and reducing emissions
• Further contracts for vanadium concentrate supplies signed by the Group to increase reliability of supply
• Contracts for selling nickel concentrate with new customers on improved commercial terms have been signed
| Q1 2022 | Q2 2022 | Q3 2022 | Q4 2022 | 2022 Total | Q1 2023 YTD | Q2 2023 YTD | H1 2023 Total | |
| Tonnes of concentrate processed | 502.3 | 644.9 | 538.4 | 396.2 | 2081.8 | 194.1 | 1016.6 | 1210.7 |
| Tonnes of vanadium pentoxide contained in AMV* | 81.1 | 91.7 | 69.9 | 62.8 | 305.5 | 31.3 | 141.4 | 172.7 |
Commenting on the production results, Nick Bridgen, CEO of Ferro-Alloy Resources said: “I am delighted to report that the plant modifications are now complete and operating efficiently, as demonstrated by our Q2 production figures. Crucially, we now recover the maximum of all the valuable components of the raw materials meaning a great deal more value is extracted from each tonne treated and no tailings or other residues remain on site. With the plant now operating in steady-state and additional concentrate supply contracts in place going into the second half of the year, we expect production to continue on this upward trajectory.”
About Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited:
The Company’s operations are all located at the Balasausqandiq deposit in Kyzylordinskoye Oblast in the South of Kazakhstan. Currently the Company has two main business activities:
a) the high grade Balasausqandiq vanadium project (the “Project”);
and b) an existing vanadium concentrate processing operation (the “Existing Operation”)
Balasausqandiq is a very large deposit, with vanadium as the principal product together with several by-products. Owing to the nature of the ore, the capital and operating costs of development are very much lower than for other vanadium projects.
The most recent mineral resource estimate for ore-body one (of seven) provided an Indicated Mineral Resource of 32.9 million tonnes at a mean grade of 0.62% V2O5 equating to 203,364 contained tonnes of vanadium pentoxide (“V2O5”). In the system of reserve estimation used in Kazakhstan the reserves are estimated to be over 70m tonnes in ore-bodies 1 to 5 but this does not include the full depth of ore-bodies 2 to 5 or the remaining ore-bodies which remain substantially unexplored.
The Project will be developed in two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2, treating 1m tonnes per year and an additional 3m tonnes per year. Production will be some 5,600 tonnes of V2O5 from Phase 1, rising to 22,400 tonnes V2O5 after Phase 2 is commissioned.
There is an existing concentrate processing operation at the site of the Balasausqandiq deposit. The production facilities were originally created from a 15,000 tonnes per year pilot plant which was then expanded and adapted to recover vanadium, molybdenum and nickel from purchased concentrates.
The existing operation is located on the same site and uses some of the same infrastructure as the Project, but is a separate operation which will continue in parallel with the development and operation of the Project.
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