Steelpoortdrift PFS Progressing On Schedule In South Africa
Vanadium Resources (ASX:VR8) has identified a number of high-value, early stage development opportunities at its Steelpoortdrift Project in South Africa.
Pit optimisation investigations as part of the project’s Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) have indicated that high V2O5 grade magnetite can preferentially be mined at a throughput of 1.6Mtpa.
The studies suggested that these improvements can be achieved without changing any of a 2020 Scoping Study assumptions, thereby potentially leading to a significantly increased output of final V2O5 flake product from downstream processing.
The studies have also suggested that medium grade ore – currently classified as waste – holds the potential to become feed for later life of mine periods, and there is potential to improve 2020 Scoping Study outcomes significantly.
Trade-off studies are being conducted as part of the PFS to balance optimal production capacity with financial metrics including impact on Capex.
CEO, Eugene Nel, said initiatives are being investigated to further reduce project carbon footprint through the inclusion of renewable energy supply into the design.
“Following on from the Scoping Study results obtained last year, optimised mine design undertaken during the PFS has increased the potential V2O5 production on the same base case assumptions and metrics as used in the Scoping Study,” Mr Nel said.
“A bonus of the new mine design is that VR8 has the opportunity (pending economic evaluations) to mine and process medium grade ore available for processing at zero mining cost, thereby affording the company with the flexibility in considering various processing options and product streams during the initial base case life of mine period of 25 years or to retain it to support a subsequent life of mine.
“The option also exists to significantly increase pit design to facilitate a greater throughput than the design base case 1.6Mt in order to benefit from the Resource present at Steelpoortdrift.
“We are excited with the prospects of potentially increasing the net present value of the project compared to the base case scenarios described in the scoping study results, and to possibly unlock a range of other processing strategies and opportunities which could de-risk the project even further and potentially lower operational expenditure of our Vanadium production capacity.
“Importantly, the increased concentrate production potential from medium grade ore could underpin the concurrent ESG project currently under investigation by VR8 without compromising the base-case Salt Roast process throughputs.”
