https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Base case confirms Gabanintha vanadium project fundamentals

26th September 2018

By: Mariaan Webb

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

An initial base case for the Gabanintha vanadium project, in the Murchison province of Western Australia, has indicated robust economics, with a net present value (NPV) ranging between $191-million and $2.37-billion, depending on pricing assumption.

The upper-end of the NPV range is estimated at the current vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) price of $20/lb and the bottom-end at a price of $8/lb. Using a life-of-mine V2O5 price forecast of $13/lb, the NPV of the project comes to $1.1-billion.

Australian Vanadium on Wednesday announced the results of the initial base case as part of the ongoing prefeasibility study (PFS) of the project.

The project is based on a proposed openpit mine; crushing, milling and beneficiation plant; and refining plant for final conversion and scale of V2O5 to be used in steel, speciality alloys and developing energy storage markets.

The base case of the PFS study considers a refinery at Gabanintha, producing at a planned rate of 22.5-million pounds a year of vanadium pentoxide over an initial 17 years. The openpit mining and benefication operation will produce about 900 000 t/y at a planned grade of 1.39% V2O5 of magnetic concentrate.

A base metals circuit will extract an estimated 1 500 t/y of sulphide concentrate containing cobalt, nickel and copper.

Operating expenses are currently estimated at $4.13/lb V2O5-equivalent and the initial indicative capital cost is $362-million.

Australian Vanadium reported that opportunities existed to further reduce costs and increase revenue through mine optimisation and alternative processing strategies.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

Showroom

Actom image
Actom

Your one-stop global energy-solution partner

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Willard
Willard

Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.092 0.146s - 156pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now