The Australian Vanadium project in WA has a key role to play in supplying the world’s decarbonisation. So how is the project progressing?
Australian Vanadium (AVL) – the owner of the project – received a $49 million grant from the Australian Government this week to support the construction and commissioning of a downstream vanadium processing plant that supports several stages of the vanadium value chain.
This includes mining, concentrating and vanadium processing for use in electrolyte production – a key input for vanadium reflux flow battery production.
Open cut mining would take place at the vanadium-titanium-magnetite orebody before being crushed, milled and beneficiated on-site. The concentrate would then be transported to the downstream processing plant near the port city of Geraldton for conversion to vanadium pentoxide.
The grant will also support AVL’s collaboration with Bryah Resources, where the two are exploring the possibilities of economically extracting cobalt, nickel, copper and gold from the project.
Australian Vanadium chief executive officer Graham Arvidson said the company had been working closely with the Australian Government to secure the grant.
“The grant will be of great benefit to AVL as we seek to optimise and finalise our financing and offtake arrangements and continue to move the project forward for the benefit of the mid-west region of Western Australia, and Australia more broadly,” he said.
The Australian Vanadium project is one of the world’s most advanced vanadium projects, with the potential to produce 11,200 tonnes per annum of vanadium pentoxide over a mine life of more than 25 years.
As it looks to bring the project online, AVL has been working hard to secure additional debt financing and expand its register. This has seen Resource Capital Finance (RCF) increase its shareholding in the company.
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