Australian Vanadium Updates Resource Estimate for Gabanintha

Australian Vanadium (ASX:AVL) has increased its resource estimate at the Gabanintha vanadium project, the company’s premier asset in Western Australia.

The updated measured, indicated and inferred resource is now pegged at 175.5 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.77 percent vanadium, with a higher-grade section of 93.6Mt at 1 percent vanadium. Within the higher-grade zone, measured mineral resources stand at 10.1Mt at 1.11 percent vanadium, with 4.9Mt at 1.09 percent vanadium in the indicated category and 78.6Mt at 0.98 percent with an inferred designation.

“We have developed a unique understanding of the deposit, and our very strong vanadium team will enable us to utilize the knowledge as we advance the project,“ Vince Algar, Australian Vanadium managing director, said in the press release.

The company has also diverted 0.8Mt of the resource to the higher-grade zone resource, while the overall resource has been cut by 5Mt to eliminate the lower grade material.

In addition to upgrading the vanadium resource at the site, the company also announced an increasing cobalt focus within the project. According to the latest site study, Gabanintha contains cobalt, nickel and copper mineralization. The initial inferred mineral resource estimate of 12.5Mt contains 202 parts per million (ppm) cobalt, 659 ppm nickel and 222 ppm copper.

Australian Vanadium is confident these initial cobalt, nickel and copper resource numbers and the modifications to the vanadium resource have reduced risk in the Gabanintha resource base. The key base metal values along with the important geo-metallurgical parameters have significantly added to the value and quality of the mine plan.

“We will develop the metallurgical and economic aspects of the project in our pre-feasibility study (PFS), looking to include the needs of potential steel industry offtake and that of the rapidly emerging vanadium redox flow battery industry,” added Algar.

Additional revenue can also be generated through the potential sale of a cobalt, nickel and copper sulphide by-product.

“This important revision to the Gabanintha resource further de-risks the foundations on which we can build an outstanding Australian project,” added Algar.

Moving forward, the company’s pre-feasibility study base case is nearing completion, leaving the technical aspects and risk analysis of the PFS to be completed before the end of 2018.

Australian Vanadium shares were down 2.4 percent on Thursday (July 5), closing at AU$0.04.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.