【Ferro-alloys.com】:Surefire Resources NL (“Surefire” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce it has achieved a breakthrough process of extracting Vanadium directly from magnetite concentrate out of its 100% owned flagship Victory Bore Vanadium project in Western Australia.

Key Points:

Laboratory test work has developed a breakthrough pre-treatment and leach process achieving a remarkable extraction of 91% of vanadium and 88% of titanium directly from Victory Bore magnetite concentrate.

This new metallurgical application alleviates the requirement for standard pre- treatment processes currently used in the vanadium extraction industry.

The process is expected to be more environmentally acceptable with low emissions and reduced carbon footprint.

This process will be applied to Surefire’s planned development of its Victory Bore Project and the impact on capital cost and operating cost benefits will be assessed.

The process will be protected by a provisional patent application, wholly owned by Surefire.

The test work process achieved a remarkable extraction for Vanadium of 91% after a 96-hour leach directly from magnetite concentrate. Additionally, an unexpected extraction of 88% Titanium was also recovered. The leach process was applied to pre-treated concentrate allowing the leach process to effectively scavenge vanadium. This pre-leach treatment is Surefire’s Intellectual Property.

In May 2023 the Company appointed METS Engineering (“METS”) to undertake an assessment of potential for recovery of a high purity vanadium oxide in liquid form, from which a clean high purity vanadium electrolyte could be produced for use in the emerging vanadium battery sector in Australasia, (see ASX announcement 1 May 2023).

Following a detailed literature search and a review of all existing extraction processes, a direct leaching test work programme was designed and established by the METS team. Supervision and reporting was carried out under the direction of METS and all test work undertaken at Western Australian laboratories.

A total of 4 separate hydro-chemical tests were carried out on pre-treated magnetite concentrate (“PTMC”). The successful process is an adaptation of several commercially scalable processes used within the mineral resource industry and involves leaching under certain conditions of the PTMC.

Laboratory testwork involved batches of PTMC from the Victory Bore deposit subjected to 4 separate leachants with catalysts, under various novel conditions.

The total process is a combination of the proprietary PTMC, leachant and novel conditions. The process details are commercial in confidence and remain the IP of Surefire Resources and subject to a Provisional Patent protection.

• [Editor:Alakay]