Maracás
Photo by: Largo Resources
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) - TSX-V-listed Largo Resources has announced that the Maracás vanadium project, in Bahia, Brazil, was on track for commissioning during the first quarter.
The Toronto-based firm said that the milling and beneficiation system was being commissioned and production of vanadium pentoxide concentrate had started.
Largo expects to stockpile 5000 t of this concentrate in preparation for commissioning the kiln.
The salt evaporation system had been mechanically completed and was presently being commissioned.
The kiln and cooler sections were reported to be mechanically complete and refractory was now being installed in the kiln, cooler, and the intake and exhaust chutes. Assembly work continued on the electrostatic precipitator in preparation for kiln start-up.
The leaching, desilication, precipitation, flash drying, deammoniation and fusion furnace systems all remained on track for completion during the current quarter.
The project's water treatment plant was also recently successfully completed and commissioned.
Largo had started construction of its $235-million Maracás project in October 2012, by pouring the first concrete for service water tanks. The mine is expected to have a life of 29 years, during which it would produce an average of 11 400 t/y of vanadium oxide.
Vanadium is an important part of many steel alloys and one of its most important uses is as a catalyst to produce sulphuric acid.
A 2013 preliminary economic assessment placed a net present value of $554-million at an 8% discount on the project, with an internal after-tax rate of return of 26.3%.