The state government has granted vanadium exploration company QEM a new tenement increasing the Company’s flagship Julia Creek vanadium / oil shale project to a total of four tenements covering 500 square kilometres.
In its quarterly update to the ASX, QEM said historic drill holes show vanadium bearing oil shale units of the Toolebuc Formation.
QEM told the ASX it would incorporate these historic drill holes into the Company’s existing geological and resource model for seismic mapping.
The company said it had also completed a five hole drill program on the Julia Creek project and began a 26km 2D seismic survey to the geological confidence of the deposit.
QEM executive director David Fitch said the June 2019 quarter has been an important period for QEM, with both a drill program and seismic survey completed at Julia Creek,
“Importantly, the data gathered will play an important role in building the geological confidence of the deposit, as we steadily move towards an anticipated resource upgrade over the coming months,” Mr Fitch said.
The tenements form part of the vast Toolebuc Formation, recognised as one of the largest deposits of vanadium and oil shale in the world and located 15km east of Julia Creek.
Vanadium can be used to make steel alloys and its strength makes it suited to the creation of tools, axles, piston rods and as girders in construction.
Vanadium pentoxide is also increasingly used in solar batteries.
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