Hardey Resources Ltd’s (ASX:HDY) incremental due diligence on four highly prospective vanadium projects in Queensland has increased the confidence to geologically model, estimate and report under the JORC 2012 Code.
The projects are owned by Vanadium Mining (VanMin) that HDY intends to acquire.
READ: Hardey Resources to acquire six prospective Australian vanadium projects
Hardey has uncovered further historical evidence there are actually 383 air-core drill-holes targeting the Toolebuc Formation along the 150 kilometres strike running through the Spike, Cera and Petrie projects and within the Sharptooth prospect.
Encouragingly, the average drill-hole depth remains shallow at 30 metres, while elevated vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) assay results verify heightened mineral prospectivity across the projects, including:
• 3 metres at 0.31% V2O5 from 4 metres (including 0.5 metres at 0.39% V2O5) within the Sharptooth prospect; and
• 5 metres at 0.48% V2O5 from 10 metres and 3 metres at 0.47% V2O5 from 2 metres within the Cera prospect.
READ: Hardey Resources eyes vanadium JORC resource at acquisition targets
Hardey has conducted a thorough review of the historical air-core drill holes and believe any future exploration, utilising a large diameter conventional bore-core at the same locations, may result in higher V2O5 assay values in line with peers.
This clearly highlights the potential exploration upside across the four projects.
Overall, with high-grade V2O5 mineralisation confirmed near surface within weathered units, there is potentially a solid case that open-pit mining methods can be employed.
Hardey’s strategic objective with the vanadium projects over the longer-term is to develop viable operations in Australia and Argentina, and the results to date are clearly on the right trajectory.