In a battery metals market that is showing no signs of slowing down, Perth-based Surefire Resources has narrowed its focus on the vanadium market, with the company set to dive into a diamond drilling program at its Victory Bore and Unaly Hill projects, about 560km north-east of Perth in WA.
According to the company, it is also revising its economic parameters ahead of a planned prefeasibility study at the operation – and has already kicked off discussions with potential partners.
Surefire says the data from the looming drill campaign will be used to inform its geotechnical studies, pit design and additional metallurgical test work to improve its flowsheet development.
The company has enlisted mining consultancy MinRizon Projects to update its capital and operating expenditure estimates and has earmarked the move as an initial step towards the launch of its PFS.
Surefire previously established a significant vanadium resource at Unaly Hill after drilling anomalous magnetic targets there around 10 years ago.
The inferred mineral resource at the project stands at 86 million tonnes at 0.42 per cent vanadium pentoxide, 24.8 per cent iron and 4.5 per cent titanium dioxide for a contained 36,533 million tonnes of vanadium.
In 2019 the company also acquired the Victory Bore vanadium project from High-Grade Metals. Previous exploration work outlined a 151 million tonne resource at 0.44 per cent vanadium pentoxide, 25 per cent iron and 6.73 per cent titanium dioxide.
By uniting the two projects Surefire collectively lays claim to an inferred resource of around 237 million tonnes at 0.43 per cent vanadium pentoxide, 24.9 per cent iron and 5.9 per cent titanium dioxide – numbers making it potentially one of the largest contained vanadium resources in the state.
According to management, Victory Bore contains a series of untested magnetic targets that could deliver even more tonnage and higher-grade mineralisation.
Vanadium has typically been used to manufacture steel alloys, for space vehicles, nuclear reactors and aircraft carriers, however, the material has recently realised renewed demand in vanadium redox flow batteries or ‘VRFBs’.
The ability of VRFBs to store enormous levels of energy in a steady state for extended periods of time – and then instantly release it when needed is what makes them unique.
VRFBs generally operate under sustainable energy applications including utility-grid, commercial, industrial, electric vehicle charging, telecommunications, solar, wind and residential functions.
With new sources of green power likely to play a crucial component in low-carbon energy production, the battery’s properties ensure the distribution of electricity irrespective of fluctuations in weather and temperature and unlike lithium, it is infinitely recyclable.
With vanadium set to play such a pivotal role in the new energy revolution, Surefire may find itself in prime position with a resource that delivers both grade and tonnage.
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