Surefire Resources achieves 97% vanadium recovery at Victory Bore project
Surefire Resources (ASX: SRN) has obtained a “remarkable” 97% recovery of vanadium in follow-up extraction test results on magnetite concentrate from its Victory Bore project in Western Australia.
The new test work again featured Surefire’s breakthrough process for extracting vanadium and other metals directly from magnetite and used the same sample material as in previous test work.
The second round of testing was successful in dramatically improving the recovery of vanadium in a much-shortened leach time on pre-treated magnetite concentrate.
Previous test work achieved a 91% vanadium extraction and 88% titanium extraction after an extended leach time of 96 hours, while the follow-up test achieved 97% recovery of vanadium after only 24 hours.
The new result was achieved through further optimising the pre-leach and leach conditions, which are part of the proprietary nature of the process.
Most notably, it was also found that roasting of the concentrate is not required under the Surefire process.
The removal of a roasting stage means there will be no need for a kiln as used in traditional current vanadium extraction methods, significantly reducing Surefire’s zero carbon footprint and CAPEX requirements.
Titanium recovery upside
Surefire said that while titanium recovery was lower in the second test than the 88% achieved originally, it believes that further leaching time would achieve 98% recovery.
The company will now assess the benefits of using its system for the downstream process flow sheet with possible reductions in capital and operating costs, while it is also assessing the potential to licence the process for use on other vanadium resources.
This confirmatory test work follows the completion of a pre-feasibility study on the Victory Bore deposit that provided robust financial outcomes and identified potential international processing opportunities.
Saudi Arabian plans
Surefire recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabia-based Ajlan & Bros Mining and Metal group for downstream processing of its magnetite concentrate.
Ajlan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ajlan & Bros Holding, a highly-respected company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with leading mining, processing, manufacturing and development capabilities in the KSA and internationally.
The signing of the MOU with Ajlan is part of the company’s plan to have a Saudi partner to jointly progress a feasible development pathway for the project and to take advantage of the resource project incentives available in the KSA.
The Ajilan agreement followed the signing of an MOU with the Ministry of Investment Saudi Arabia in 2023 for downstream processing of vanadium from Victory Bore.