Surefire Resources has developed a “breakthrough” metallurgical process which has yielded extraction rates of 91 per cent vanadium and 88 per cent titanium from its Victory Bore magnetite concentrate.
The company says its provisionally patented technology alleviates the need for standard vanadium industry pre-treatment processing and will be incorporated into its developing Victory Bore operations where its economic, operational and environmental benefits will be evaluated.
The breakthrough refers to Surefire’s provisional patent application relating specifically to a new “pre-leach” treatment it has developed for application to its magnetite concentrate which then allows the leachant to scavenge vanadium more effectively from the concentrate.
The remarkable vanadium extraction rate of 91 per cent followed a 96-hour leach applied directly to the pre-treated magnetite concentrate which also yielded an unexpected 88 per cent recovery of titanium.
Last May, Surefire appointed independent metallurgical consultancy METS Engineering (METS) to evaluate the potential of recovering high purity vanadium oxide in liquid form, from which a clean, high purity vanadium electrolyte could be produced for the emergent Australian vanadium storage battery market.
The appointment followed Surefire’s previous scanning electron microscope studies of its Victory Bore magnetite which showed spot vanadium grades ranging from 1.8 to an impressive 3.9 per cent vanadium pentoxide.
The company concluded that its magnetite hosts a relatively clean vanadium which could be more amenable to simpler and cleaner extraction.
METS undertook an extensive literary search and review of all relevant metallurgical processes before designing a trial direct leach program using Western Australian laboratories under its direction.
The program tested the company’s proprietary pre-treated magnetite concentrate which involved subjecting it to four separate leachants with catalysts, under a range of novel leaching conditions.
A composite sample of about 500kg was made up from 20 one-metre samples taken from a single reverse circulation drillhole in the centre of the Victory Bore deposit.
Management says the sample was prepared using standard metallurgical beneficiation methods to produce a clean magnetite, with a 250kg cut taken for testwork and the remaining 250kg residue kept as a record and for further testing if required.
Following a full assay suite, particle size distribution, size-by-assay studies and medium and low magnetic separation processes, the recovered magnetics were then subjected to leaching to extract vanadium.
Leaching showed a smooth and predictable vanadium extraction curve over time, with 91 per cent of vanadium recovered after 96 hours. Additionally, 88 per cent titanium recovery was achieved in the same time frame, with the recovery graph indicating that more vanadium might be recovered with longer leach exposure.
Surefire says the subsequent production of vanadium pentoxide directly from the leach solution is already a well-established and scalable commercial process to produce a high purity product.
Management says additional test work will be required in the lead-up to pilot plant trials during which it will evaluate the economics and benefits of the process and assess the potential to licence it for use on other vanadium resources.
Surefire’s Victory Bore project is situated near Mt. Magnet in Western Australia’s Mid-West region.
With its total measured, indicated and inferred resource estimate of 464 million tonnes at 0.39 per cent vanadium pentoxide, it represents a critical mineral resource potentially of world class status - and it could get even bigger.
Additionally, Unaly Hill, situated about 20km south-west of Victory Bore on the same arrow-straight geological trend, contains an inferred resource of 86.2 million tonnes at 0.42 per cent vanadium pentoxide.
Surefire has also wrapped a separate exploration target estimate around the project, which is potentially larger than the existing resource, ranging between 682 million tonnes and 1.19 billion tonnes grading between 0.2 and 0.43 per cent vanadium pentoxide respectively.
A combination of any part of that exploration target estimate and the existing resource would make for a world scale vanadium resource at a time when the planet is clamouring for clean energy options.
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By Doug Bright
