Critical Minerals Group’s well-positioned Lindfield project has been boosted by Queensland government’s investment in a vanadium processing facility.
Lindfield is located in a known vanadium province at Julia Creek, which is also host to QEM’s Julia Creek project and Multicom’s Saint Elmo project that is just entering the mining construction phase.
Besides the added confidence from being close to other vanadium projects, which makes for well understood geology, the location provides the company with easy access to infrastructure including road and rail from the town straight to the port of Townsville.
The area also benefits from overwhelming support from different government departments keen to get projects up and running.
This has now been boosted further by the Queensland government moving to build and own a vanadium processing plant in Townsville as part of a plan to make the state a leading producer and exporter of new-economy minerals and the home of new industries.
Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick said the government wanted regional Queensland “to be a global leader when it comes to everything that’s part of the renewable energy revolution”.
“Through our $520 million Invested in Queensland program, we will put at least $10 million towards this common-user facility, with the final amount depending on the outcome of the construction tender,” he added.
“A common-user facility can be used by multiple, smaller mining companies that do not have the available capital to set up their own processing facilities.”
The Department of Resources will seek tenders in the new year for detailed engineering assessments and costings for the plant.
Construction is expected to start in 2022, with the plant scheduled to begin operating in 2023.
“Critical Minerals Group congratulates the Queensland state government for their innovative and collaborative approach in accelerating the development of new critical minerals industries for Queenslanders,” managing director Scott Drelincourt said.
“Vanadium has a critical role to play in the future of energy storage, with vanadium consumption in batteries (vanadium flow batteries) forecasted to grow at an average compound rate of 20.7% per year from 2020 to 2029.
“The $10m multiuser vanadium processing facility will help fast track advanced vanadium projects like CMG’s Lindfield project, by saving companies the time and funds required to develop its own demonstration plant.
“The facility will have further benefits by being able to produce bulk end user products such as V2O5 or battery electrolyte to be tested by potential off-take partners.”
Lindfield’s superiority
While its location is certainly of great value, there are several factors that make Critical Mineral Group’s Lindfield project stand out from other projects in the area.
The project currently has an Inferred JORC resource of 210 million tonnes grading 0.39% vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), which is a higher grade compared to most of the company’s peers.
The resource is also shallow and outcrops at surface, meaning that mining costs are likely to be lower thanks to the low strip ratio.
Combined with the access to major infrastructure, the company appears well placed to be a standout vanadium producer.
Historical drill results have also highlighted the potential for high-purity alumina to be produced at Lindfield.
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