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The company says it has produced some of the highest-known vanadium concentrate grades from a magnetite deposit.
Bushveld Vanadium will become a standalone project dedicated exclusively to developing “a potentially world-class vanadium resource in the MML with the possibility of becoming one of the world’s largest vanadium producers,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The news vaulted stock in the Guernsey-based firm by 26.5 percent, to GBP4.62 a share.
It said two additional vanadium zones have been discovered, with a combined thickness up to 70 meters, “with scope to increase resource substantially.”
Bushveld Minerals said it has produced concentrate grades over 2 percent V2O5 from the MML and footwall mineralization, “making for some of the highest-known vanadium grades from a magnetite deposit.”
It plans to complete a scoping study on the enlarged vanadium resource in the first half of next year, and will look at developing an operation supporting between 5,000 and 10,000 tonnes annually.
“What has not been as clear before is the scale of the vanadium deposit, the vanadium proposition of the disseminated magnetite zones and thus the massive potential of the project. The thick outcropping zones will ensure that the mining operation is a low cost one with very low stripping ratios,” said Busheveld’s CEO, Fortune Mojapelo.
Other company news
Largo Resources (TSXV:LGO), the company aiming to put the Maracás vanadium project in Brazil into production, on Tuesday provided some operational highlights, including the installation of equipment and structures. Largo said that pre-stripping of the Gulçari “A” open pit is proceeding as planned and the main pit access ramp is well underway. First loads of ore have been delivered to the crushing plant.
Maracás is on track for commissioning during the first quarter of next year. Construction at the $235-million project started over a year ago; once complete, it is expected to produce an average 11,400 tonnes of vanadium oxide per year. Largo has an offtake agreement with Glencore Xstrata (LSE:GLEN) to handle all vanadium products from Maracás for six years after start of production.
Stonehenge Metals (ASX:SHE), a Sydney-based penny stock, announced earlier this month that its Gwesan project in South Korea shows continued vanadium mineralization. A highlight from 300 meters of drill core was 8 meters averaging 3,500 parts per million (ppm) V2O5, including 1 meter at 6,000 ppm.
Triton Minerals (ASX:TON), another Australian company, said last month that it plans to start drilling its Nicanda Hill prospect located with its Balama North project in Mozambique. Triton said it hopes to build on high-grade vanadium and graphite found at its Cobra Plains prospect.
“[R]econnaissance geological mapping has already identified a number of graphitic exposures over a zone roughly 3.75 km long. The aim of this current program is to demonstrate further substaintial Graphitic and Vanadium mineralisation over an additional strike length of about 5 km,” the company stated.
AMM.com reported on Monday that Vanadiumcorp Resource Inc (TSXV:VRB) (formerly Pacific Ore Mining) is looking to fast-track its Lac Dore vanadium project in Quebec in order to meet growing demand for vanadium used in vanadium redox batteries. The company started trading on the TSX Venture under its new name on Nov. 22.
Securities Disclosure: I, Andrew Topf, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.