Surefire vanadium tests hit the mark
Date: Nov 2, 2018
Vanadium small cap hopeful Surefire Resources has generated grades up to 1.46% vanadium pentoxide from simple crushing and magnetic separation metallurgical test work on fresh vanadiferous magnetite ores from its Unaly Hill project near Sandstone in WA.
The test work program was completed on three, wide, vanadium-rich magnetite zones drilled at the project in July, incorporating separate trials on all zones which produced remarkably consistent encouraging results.
Ore grade samples varying from 0.4% to 0.63% vanadium pentoxide were dramatically upgraded to values between 1.33% and 1.46% vanadium pentoxide using two different crush sizes and then variable strength magnetic separation of the magnetite-rich source rocks.
Importantly the lowest grade mineralised zone beneficiated exceptionally well, giving Surefire great confidence in the potential economic viability of the Unaly Hill project.
Importantly the company also said that the metallurgical testing rejected most of the waste silica, alumina and calcium content whilst upgrading the iron and valuable titania content of the ore composite samples.
The main aim of the test work was to ascertain the response of the Unaly Hill ores to conventional processing methods used for similar-style, low grade hard rock vanadium deposits worldwide.
The company will shortly complete low impact magnetic separation or “LIMS” testing on the ores, with results expected later in the month.
This test work will be broader in scale and will provide a more thorough indication of how magnetic separation of the ore streams will perform in a larger processing plant.
