Vanadium small cap hopeful Surefire Resources has generated grades up to 1.46% vanadium pentoxide from simple crushing and magnetic separation metallurgical test work on fresh vanadiferous magnetite ores from its Unaly Hill project near Sandstone in WA.
The test work program was completed on three, wide, vanadium-rich magnetite zones drilled at the project in July, incorporating separate trials on all zones which produced remarkably consistent encouraging results.
Ore grade samples varying from 0.4% to 0.63% vanadium pentoxide were dramatically upgraded to values between 1.33% and 1.46% vanadium pentoxide using two different crush sizes and then variable strength magnetic separation of the magnetite-rich source rocks.
Importantly the lowest grade mineralised zone beneficiated exceptionally well, giving Surefire great confidence in the potential economic viability of the Unaly Hill project.
Importantly the company also said that the metallurgical testing rejected most of the waste silica, alumina and calcium content whilst upgrading the iron and valuable titania content of the ore composite samples.
The main aim of the test work was to ascertain the response of the Unaly Hill ores to conventional processing methods used for similar-style, low grade hard rock vanadium deposits worldwide.
The company will shortly complete low impact magnetic separation or “LIMS” testing on the ores, with results expected later in the month.
This test work will be broader in scale and will provide a more thorough indication of how magnetic separation of the ore streams will perform in a larger processing plant.
Surefire continues to advance the Unaly Hill project towards a scoping study level evaluation of its economic potential.
The company is currently completing resource development RC drilling in order to improve the status of the historical inferred mineral resource at the project to a JORC compliant standard for reporting and further evaluation.
The grades being returned from Unaly Hill are in line with the nearby Windimurra vanadium mine, owned by Atlantic Vanadium which contains a remaining mineral resource of 235 million tonnes grading 0.49% vanadium pentoxide and is presently on care and maintenance.
The Unaly Hill deposit last received serious attention in 2010, when the vanadium price was about a third of what it is today. The new-found market interest in vanadium, backed by significant commodity price increases has brought Unaly Hill back into focus and Surefire appears to be well-placed to capitalise on this new market interest.
The project is located on a single exploration licence about 48km south of Sandstone in the eastern Murchison district of WA and is 100%-owned by Surefire.
The mineralised zones occur within a mafic gabbroic intrusion and strike for just over 12km inside Surefire’s tenement which means there is plenty of blue sky exploration upside at Unaly Hill.
Significant extensions defined by highly magnetic geophysical anomalies representing the target magnetite horizons still remain unexplored and may make for good future drill targets at this intriguing project.
