- Vanadium Resources (VR8) has appointed Leslie John Ford to lead a scoping study for the Steelpoortdrift vanadium project
- With over 40 years experience in construction, developing and producing vanadium projects, Mr Ford is considered a global vanadium expert
- The company expects the test work will confirm high recoveries are achievable and the project’s resource can become a feedstock for a vanadium plant
- Steelpoortdrift is located in South Africa and is the world’s largest vanadium deposit and second-highest grade resource
- The scoping study is expected to be completed by the end of the June quarter
- Vanadium Resources is flat on the market, with shares trading for 1.8 cents each
Vanadium Resources (VR8) has appointed Leslie John Ford, a vanadium expert, to lead a scoping study for the Steelpoortdrift vanadium project in South Africa.
For the scoping study, Leslie will complete the process design and costs using data from metallurgical tests over concentrate from the 2019 reserve drilling program and the reserve calculation by the company’s mining technical advisors.
With over 40 years experience in construction, developing and producing vanadium projects, Mr Ford is considered a global expert in vanadium.
He began his career at Highveld Steel and Vanadium’s Vanchem plant that used material from the same geological setting as Steelpoortdrift at its operations to produce steel and other vanadium products.
He then went onto various leadership roles for the development of producing vanadium mines for Largo Resources in Brazil and for Vantech (formerly Xstrata, now Glencore).
Vanadium Resources expects the test work will confirm that high recoveries can be achieved and that the project’s resource will become a feedstock for a vanadium plant.
The Steelpoortdrift mining project is the world’s largest vanadium deposit and second-highest grade resource. It has an indicated and inferred JORC resource of 612 million tonnes at 0.78 per cent V2O5 in situ, including 167 million tonnes at 1.07 per cent V2O5.
Once the scoping study is complete, Mr Ford will also be the consultant for various studies required to develop Steelpoortdrift’s Titano-Vanadium Magnetite resource up to and including the production of vanadium pentoxide.
Results from the scoping study will be released progressively after it is completed by the end of the June quarter.
Vanadium Resources is flat on the market, with shares trading for 1.8 cents each at market close.
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