TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vanadium producer Largo Resources has hit new vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) production records at its flagship Maracás Menchen mine, in Bahia, Brazil, bringing the operation a step closer to achieving nameplate capacity.
The TSX-V-listed company on Thursday reported that it had broken all previous daily, weekly and monthly production records at the operation during May.
The company produced 780 t of V2O5 in May, outdoing its previous monthly production record of about 730 t set in April by 7%.
Largo also reported a weekly production record of 198 t of V2O5 achieved during the week of May 24, representing about 28.3 t/d or 107% of nameplate capacity.
The operation also hit a new daily production record on May 23 of 34 t of V2O5, an increase of about 128% of the plant’s daily nameplate capacity.
“With two months of consistent and record-breaking production, our production team in Maracás has once again demonstrated the ongoing success of the project. Largo is on the cusp of achieving nameplate capacity with these records and together with cost efficiencies, improved operational performance and an increase in V2O5 price, the company will continue to be focused on creating strong shareholder value,” stated president and CEO Mark Smith.
Meanwhile, Largo had recently reported a 40% increase in the mineral reserves for the Campbell pit at its Maracas Menchen mine. The miner reported that proven and probable reserves at the Campbell pit grew to 18.4-million tonnes, at a grade of 1.17% V2O5.
The Maracas project had a mine life of 15 years, according to a new mine plan, producing 9 600 t/y of V2O5.