Surefire Resources (ASX: SRN) has emerged from a trading halt with news that testing has confirmed that high-grade aluminium oxide at its Victory Bore project in Western Australia has the potential to provide low-cost feedstock for valuable high purity alumina (HPA) production.
The aluminium oxide will be available as a secondary product from the mining of vanadium at Victory Bore.
The elevated aluminium oxide (Al2O3) is a significant value add for Surefire as it would be obtained from waste rock when the high-grade vanadium resource is mined.
HPA a critical mineral
Named as a critical mineral by the Australian government, HPA is currently valued at between $37,000 – $60,000 per tonne.
Pure (4N) HPA is in-demand for its use in applications including coatings for lithium-ion battery separators, LED production, and synthetic sapphire production.
Approximately 5kg of HPA is used in each electric vehicle and recently HPA has been more widely adopted for use in ceramic coated separators in the li-ion batteries (Libs) and this source of new demand is expected to increase in the coming decade.
New tests highlight aluminium oxide value
New tests undertaken by contractor Lava Blue has confirmed a method to produce 4N (99.99%) purity alumina from Victory Bore’s aluminium oxide material.
A total of 6 samples of 2kg to 3kg each, collected from RC drill hole material representative of the Victory Bore deposit, were sent to Lava Blue’s test facilities In Queensland.
Initial test work noted that a difference in predicted and actual results for the highest value HPA was due to silicon impurity, which can be removed in any future test work program.
In the wrap up of Lava Blue’s studies, the initial test work successfully confirmed the production of 4N HPA (99.99%).
The achievement of 4N was a prerequisite set by Surefire as this is a grade required for the current and emerging HPA markets.
However, Surefire believes that further test work, optimisation and refinement of the Lava Blue process for treating the Victory Bore material may improve on this value – with the main target a 5N product which would place the company as one of the world’s highest purity producers.
Critical mineral hopes
Surefire is currently exploring the additional value of another critical mineral with HPA production, in parallel with its plans to produce high purity Victory Bore vanadium for the emerging vanadium redox flow battery sector and other vanadium markets.
Lava Blue’s work on this successful initial test work has provided further support for the additional optimisation opportunities.
Surefire is already considering the next phase of test work, while also exploring potential end user commercial discussions.
The company is also considering including the latest test results in its pre-feasibility study (PFS) for the Victory Bore Vanadium Project, which is scheduled for completion by November 2023.
The 100% owned Victory Bore vanadium project is ideally located just 400km from Geraldton Port in Western Australia.
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