Hardey Resources on fast-track to reopen Nelly Vanadium Mine in Argentina
Date: Aug 31, 2018
Hardey Resources Ltd (ASX:HDY) aims to bring the Nelly Vanadium Mine in Argentina back into production as soon as possible and is moving swiftly to secure the necessary regulatory approvals.
Apart from the significant potential upside as highlighted by SRK Consulting, a key reason for Hardey acquiring the project is Argentina’s favourable mining regulatory system.
This enables a legacy mining right to be expediated for reactivation compared to other mining countries.
Hardey Resources executive chairman Terence Clee said, “The board’s immediate core objective is to capitalise on Argentina’s comparatively favourable mining laws to expedite re-opening Nelly Vanadium Mine.”
Attractive timeframe
Compared with the typical 3-5 years to transform a greenfield project into a viable mining operation in Argentina, the relative timeframe to reactivate Nelly’s mining right is potentially under 12 months.
In most developed countries this timeframe is 5-7 years.
Based on preliminary geological evidence to date, the company’s board believes the reopening the mine and scaling up production of vanadium pentoxide will expedite creating value for shareholders at a materially faster rate.
This will, in turn, supplement the future development of Hardey’s Australian greenfield assets.
Clee said, “Our initial goal, pending the mining right being granted, is approval of the exploration permit.
“This will enable the geology team to commence work verifying the extent of vanadium mineralisation and potentially monetising the historical stockpiles.”
