Perth-based junior Surefire Resources (ASX: SRN) has completed an environmental survey at the wholly-owned Victory Bore vanadium project, located 400 kilometres from Geraldton Port in Western Australia.
The company engaged Yallingup-based Onshore Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd in November to conduct the required detailed flora and vegetation survey and desktop vertebrate fauna assessment at the project, which sits within the Murchison bioregion.
Plant taxa
A total of 203 plant taxa from 38 families and 98 genera was recorded from the study area, with species representation being greatest among the Chenopodiaceae (30 taxa), Asteraceae (29 taxa), Fabaceae (26 taxa), Poaceae (19 taxa), Scrophulariaceae (19 taxa), Amaranthaceae (9 taxa), Goodeniaceae (6 taxa) and Malvaceae (6 taxa).
Surefire confirmed none of the taxa identified from the study area were gazetted as threatened flora under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 or the Western Australian Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
Two flora taxa were recorded from the study area as priority one (poorly-known species at risk) and priority three (poorly-known species under imminent threat).
Of the five introduced species recorded from the study area, none were listed as declared plants under the state’s Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007.
Vegetation types
A total of eight vegetation types representing six broad floristic formations were mapped from the study area.
None of these were aligned with national or state-listed threatened ecological communities (TECs) or as state-listed priority ecological communities (PECs) documented from the Murchison bioregion.
Vegetation condition within the study area ranged from very good to degraded, and was altered in parts by obvious signs of disturbance including cattle grazing and historical mine exploration.
Species within the study area were determined to be well represented at all levels, with greater than 99.75% of the pre-European extent remaining for the sole vegetation association represented.
Stepping stone
Surefire managing director Paul Burton said the environmental survey was a stepping stone to permitting and approvals for the project.
“The completion of this survey work marks a significant milestone in the development process for Victory Bore,” he said.
“We are pleased that the area has no impediments and we will now continue to progress this to the next stage of being awarded a mining licence.”
He said the study results come at a time of increasing vanadium prices and greater awareness and uptake of vanadium redox batteries.
