TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vanadium producer Largo Resources' flagship Maracas Menchen mine, in Bahia state, Brazil, last week achieved a production record, representing about 71% of the plant’s designed Phase 1 capacity.
The company reported a 40% production rate early this month.
Largo said on Monday that over a 24-hour period late last week, output was 19 t of vanadium pentoxide, billing the achievement as setting a significant new benchmark in the ongoing ramp-up process.
The company had been battling with production issues after starting the plant ramp-up in June this year.
In a mid-October conference call, CEO Mark Brennan, in response to analyst questions, stated that Largo expected to catch up to its previously published ramp-up schedule by November. The operation was scheduled to reach full production by the first half of next year.
Largo expected output to reach a rate of 9 600 t/y of vanadium pentoxide, at cash costs of between $5.50/kg and $6/kg. The second phase of the project would see output rise to 14 400 t/y within the next three years, potentially giving the company the ability to supply up to 10% of global demand.
The Maracas Menchen deposit was regarded as the richest, highest-grade vanadium deposit in the world.
Despite reduced current demand growth from Chinese smelters producing higher-quality steel, similar to European or US standards, and materials advances in the aerospace industry, the global market is expected to grow at about 5% a year.
Vanadium is added to steel in small quantities to make it significantly stronger and more resistant to rust.
Largo has a six-year, take-or-pay contract to sell all Maracas’ output to global trading firm Glencore.