Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals on Friday announced the maiden mineral resource estimate for its Brits vanadium project, in South Africa’s North West province.
Bushveld reported a 66.8-million-tonne aggregate inferred and indicated mineral resource across three seams at the project, grading at an average of 1.58% vanadium oxide in magnetite, at a cutoff grade of 20% magnetite in whole rock, for 175 400 t of contained vanadium.
The maiden mineral resource incorporates data from the company’s 2018 drilling campaign, which comprised 26 drill holes over 2 967 m of drilling.
The Brits project is directly along strike from Bushveld’s 74%-owned Vametco Alloys mine.
The indicated mineral resource tonnages account for 67% of the total combined mineral resource and stand at 44.9-million tonnes, with an average grade of 1.59% vanadium oxide in magnetite, for 115 600 t of contained vanadium across the three seams.
The lower seams represent a major portion of the total combined mineral resource tonnages at the cutoff grade of 20%, with 55.5-million tonnes at an average grade of 1.58% vanadium oxide in magnetite for 137 000 t of contained vanadium.
However, the intermediate seam has the highest grade of the three seams at 1.76% vanadium oxide in magnetite, though the tonnages are low at the current cutoff grade of 20% magnetite in whole rock.
The mineral resource was reported up to a depth of 150 m below surface and was based on the drilling of the western and central blocks of the farm Uitvalgrond Portion 3, which extends over a strike length of about 1.65 km to the most eastern fault.
As such, Bushveld said there was potential to increase the resource on the remaining eastern unexplored portion of the farm on a strike length of 1 km.
Bushveld targeted producing, from all operations, more than 8 400 t/y of vanadium.