Maiden resource announced at Liontown’s low-cost Cambridge vanadium deposit
Liontown Resources’ Cambridge inferred mineral resource is located close to existing infrastructure including a gas pipeline, a major highway and a railway linked to the Townsville Port.
An inferred maiden resource at the Cambridge vanadium deposit within Liontown Resources’ (ASX: LTR) Toolebuc project has confirmed the discovery to be a significant low-cost addition to the company’s battery metals suite.
Estimated at 84 million tonnes at 0.30% vanadium pentoxide at a 0.25% cut-off grade, the Cambridge mineral resource is believed to be shallow and hosted by a soft marine sediment, indicating that it would be amenable to a low-cost, open pit mining operation.
The deposit’s depth, thickness and grades, and proximity to existing infrastructure including a gas pipeline, a major highway and a railway linked to Townsville Port will also help secure low operating costs.
The Cambridge resource remains open and Liontown has estimated an exploration target of up to 110 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.28% to 0.32% vanadium pentoxide in the adjacent area.
Further drilling is planned with a view to extending the current resource, collecting samples for further metallurgical testwork and testing additional targets within the project area.
Liontown managing director David Richards said the Cambridge resource reflects the significant scale and potential of the Toolebuc project, located 400 kilometres west of Townsville and comprising five granted exploration permits over approximately 1000 square kilometres.
“Cambridge has a number of exciting attributes which makes it a potentially-valuable addition to our portfolio of Australian battery metals projects,” he said.
“These include the shallow nature of the mineralisation, its proximity to existing regional infrastructure, and the fact that it remains open and offers substantial growth potential.”
A battery metals suite
The Toolebuc project is located within a vanadium-rich district, adjacent to the Rothbury and Lilyvale vanadium deposits owned by Interim Resources (ASX: IRC).
Rothbury hosts a JORC inferred resource of 1.76 billion tonnes at 0,31% vanadium pentoxide, while Lilyvale contains 0.67bt at 0.35% vanadium pentoxide.
Liontown’s initial studies indicate that similar grades and widths of mineralisation occur within Toolebuc and that Interim’s resources extend eastward into Liontown’s tenure.
Toolebuc is part of Liontown’s battery metals suite and – together with the Kathleen Valley and Buldania lithium projects in Western Australia – allows the company to take its place within the emerging large-scale energy storage industry.
“Vanadium has been one of the strongest performing metals of the past two years, on the back of tight global supply and emerging demand from the grid-scale energy storage and renewable energy sectors,” said Mr Richards.
“It is an exciting metal to have in our portfolio and we intend to pursue this project with vigour and in parallel with our emerging lithium projects.”
At midday, Liontown shares were up 7.41% to $0.029.