News Release
AUSVAN BATTERY METALS STARTS DRILLING ON THE ALLARU VANADIUM PROJECT IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
The Allaru Project is a resource stage Vanadium Deposit with additional potential for High Purity Alumina (“HPA”) located in central Queensland, Australia.
The Allaru Vanadium Deposit is hosted in the shallow dipping vanadium shale of the Toolebuc Formation. The Toolebuc Formation is projected to break surface on a N-NW trending arch that crosses the claim package. The current drilling is focused on the extension of known vanadium enriched shales where it is expected to encounter oxidized vanadium shale (see map below). The current drill program has permitted 32 drill holes for 900m of 10.2cm diameter core recovery drilling on seven lines with a 1 km spacing between drill holes. Project Highlights:
● Large Scale and High-Grade Deposit
o Historic JORC Inferred Resource (2018) of 618 Mt at 0.45% V2O5* with an exploration target of 880 – 1,100 Mt with the potential for an additional high value HPA co-product
● Drilling is focused on developing oxide resources extending from existing fresh Vanadium enriched shales
o Includes potential to improve project economics based on reduced potential strip ratios
o Unoxidized material may not require roasting, which will potentially reduce capital and operational expenses associated with development scenarios
● Standard Processing Flowsheet for Toolebuc Formation Vanadium shale returns up to 95% vanadium recovery with atmospheric leach technology
o Detailed processing flow sheet supports a clear pathway to full V2O5 production
o AusVan has commissioned Brisbane Met Lab to conduct bench scale metallurgical work seeking to optimize the process for recovery of vanadium from Allaru Vanadium shale
o Current metallurgical work seeks to optimize this process with Allaru material
● Moving forward to clear path to definition of a near surface oxide resources and definition of PEA level economics
President Michael Collins comments, “The last year has seen a strong build out of Vanadium flow batteries installation amid projections of vanadium shortages in the near term. The public market is seeing the viability and value of vanadium battery systems and the value of vanadium focused developers has benefited from this up swing in the market.”
“The economic advantage is increasingly evident in the large and the small scale electricity back up and flow optimization applications. The fall of 2020 saw significant up ticks in contract for and deployment of Vanadium flow batteries, and the related increase in valuations of public Vanadium resource and battery development companies. Vanadium is a key part of the renewable energy future by providing a low cost battery energy storage solution on large grids and sole site power systems. We see a clear pathway to make the Allaru Project a significant part of the clean energy storage market.”
Allaru Vanadium Project
Covering 1,088 km2, the Allaru Vanadium Project is located 80km north of Julia Creek in central Queensland, Australia. The base metals mining center of Mt. Isa, and regional airport is located 230km to the west. The Mt. Isa rail network passes through Julia Creek with connections to Charters Towers and Townsville and Port Abbot at Bowen allowing for low cost shipping. The area has a hot dry climate with flat lying topography and is easily accessible by road and near existing power.
As part of it’s purchase, AusVan also holds rights to an advanced metallurgical process flow sheet designed for an adjacent PFS level Vanadium/HPA project which also targets Toolebuc Formation Vanadium Shale and is located 40 km south west of the Allaru Project. The chemistry of the vanadium shale of these two projects is very similar in major and minor elements. AusVan has commissioned Brisbane Met Lab to conduct bench scale metallurgical work seeking to optimize the process for recovery of vanadium from Allaru Vanadium shale.
Geology
Centered on the Euroka Ridge separating the Carpentaria and Eromanga Sedimentary Basin in northwest Queensland, the Allaru Project displays many similar characteristics to the nearby advanced Debella Vanadium + HPA Project owned by Vecco Group; a near surface, flat lying and locally oxidized vanadium enriched shale. The Allaru Project is hosted by Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Toolebuc Formation. The Toolebuc Formation is composed primarily of banded limestone and shales, is widely distributed and laterally stable across the Project. The Vanadium mineralization is concentrated in the Toolebuc Upper and Lower beds. The Toolebuc Upper bed ranges in thickness from 0.3m to 3.0m in thickness, averaging 2.8m, and the Toolebuc Lower bed ranges in thickness from 1.3m to 4.1m in thickness, averaging 2.8m.
