Intermin’s Richmond vanadium resource update places it as one of the world’s largest deposits

Intermin Resources (ASX: IRC) has posted an update to its vanadium resource at its Richmond vanadium project in Queensland, with the company claiming the resource is one of the world’s largest vanadium deposits.

The updated JORC-compliant 2012 resource now sits at 2.579 billion tonnes grading 0.32% vanadium with mineralisation remaining open in all directions. Richmond is also prospective for molybdenum which graded 262 grams per tonne.

This compares to the 2004 JORC resource of 3.3 billion tonnes grading 0.40% vanadium and 295gpt molybdenum.

According to Intermin, Richmond’s resource tonnage is second only to King River Copper’s Speewah project which hosts more than 4.5 billion tonnes of ore at a similar vanadium grade.

Commenting on the update Intermin managing director Jon Price said the resource was amenable to low cost, shallow open cut mining.

He added the Richmond project was near to roads, rail and ports.

“With vanadium prices reaching 10-year highs on the back of tightening supply and surging demand in the grid-scale battery market, Richmond has the potential to become a major supplier of vanadium to the energy storage and steel markets,” Mr Price noted.

Richmond encompasses 1,520 square kilometres in Queensland’s north and is operated under a joint venture with Chinese-backed AXF Vanadium.

AXF Vanadium is farming in for a 75% stake in the project by spending A$6 million on exploration and feasibility studies by 2021.

To-date, AXF Vanadium has completed more than 220,000m of drilling and collected about 1.2mt of vanadium ore for metallurgical testing.

Preliminary test work has indicated the ore can be upgraded via sizing separation. Further metallurgical test work is underway with first results anticipated in the next quarter.

An infill drilling campaign has been planned to update the resource to measured category as part of a scoping study.

The market reacted positively to the news with Intermin’s share price rocketing more than 26% to A$0.285 in early morning trade.