Name of the Project
Richmond vanadium project.

Location
Five-hundred kilometres west of Townsville, in Queensland, Australia.

Project Owner/s
Horizon Minerals completed the restructure of its 25% interest in the Richmond vanadium project in June 2022.

The company struck a deal with its joint venture (JV) partner Richmond Vanadium Technology (RVT) to restructure the project ownership into a dedicated incorporated vehicle, which would ultimately list on the ASX through an initial public offering (IPO) in 2021.

In May 2022, the JV partners executed a sale and purchase agreement, agreeing that RVT would be the dedicated IPO vehicle.

RVT now holds the full interest of the Richmond vanadium project, with Horizon holding 25% of the IPO vehicle, and existing shareholders of RVT holding the remaining interest. The IPO process has also started.

RVT is expected to lodge its IPO prospectus in August, and will complete the IPO and its listing in September or October 2022.

Project Description
The Richmond project is one of the biggest undeveloped oxide vanadium resources in the world, with the potential to meet increased demand from the speciality steel industry and the grid-scale energy storage market.

An updated prefeasibility study (PFS) completed in March 2022 demonstrated a financially strong project, with the PFS proposing a shallow, low-impact openpit mine producing 80.4-million tonnes of oxide ore at a fully diluted grade of 0.49% vanadium pentoxide for 15.64-million tonnes of 1.82% vanadium pentoxide, with concentrate production on site.

Overall refining recovery is estimated at 86.1%, producing 251 500 t of 98% vanadium pentoxide commercial-grade flake, with average production of 12 700 t/y vanadium pentoxide.

The project has an initial 20-year mine life.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of A$1.09-billion and an internal rate of return of 62%, based on a current spot price of A$16.44/lb of vanadium pentoxide, with a payback of 1.9 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project has modest upfront capital costs of A$243-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Work on the bankable feasibility study for Richmond is progressing. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Faultzone (feasibility study management and processing facility and infrastructure); RVT (geology and resources estimates); Dr Dawei Xu (mining and ore reserve); Hunan Nonferrous Metal Research Institute (metallurgical testwork); Ergon Energy Corporation (power study); CDM Smith (hydrology and hydrogeology); and Epic Environmental (environmental studies).

Contact Details for Project Information
Horizon Minerals, tel +61 8 9386 9534 or email info@horizonminerals.com.au.