Australian Vanadium Limited (AVL) has announced that the reverse circulation (RC) infill drilling efforts at the Australian Vanadium Project confirmed higher vanadium and iron grades and more shallow weathering profiles.
The new assay results, paired with magnetic susceptibility data, confirmed the presence of higher grades of vanadium and iron and showed a shallower weathering profile in the high-grade Zone 10 primary economic horizon in the southern resource blocks 50, 60 and 70 at the project.
The drilling consisted of nine diamond core drill holes for 813.5 m and 86 RC drill holes for 7,283 m.
The program provided additional core for quality assurance of RC drill results and ongoing characterisation of the geometallurgy of the deposit along strike.
According to the company, variability test work will be conducted to confirm expected vanadium recoveries and other plant performance metrics based on previous pilot test works.
Results from the core assays demonstrate the increasing tenor of the vanadium, iron and titanium endowment of the high-grade domain moving from the north towards the south through the greater deposit strike.
The results, in addition to visual observations, substantiate the existing geological interpretation and tenor of mineralisation and ore in the southern blocks.
The assay results will be used to inform the company’s updated Mineral Resource Estimate and other economic updates later in 2023.
“These drill results improve our geotechnical and geometallurgical understanding of the Mineral Resource inventory, which will play a key role in maximising the value of the Project as we move closer to financial investment decision and development,” AVL CEO Graham Arvidson said.
He added that the results gained from the infill drilling program would enable the company’s geometallurgical team to optimise concentrate grade, yield and recovery outcomes while improving economics and de-risking the ramp-up period of the project.
