Australian Vanadium Ltd (ASX:AVL) (OTCMKTS:ATVVF) (FRA:JT71) has started geotechnical diamond drilling at Gabanintha Southern Resource blocks 50 and 60 of the Australian Vanadium Project to gather data for metallurgical and geotechnical purposes.
Eight holes for 895 metres will be drilled, with four drilled through mineralisation towards the east designed to collect metallurgical samples and will extend through the proposed pit wall to characterise rock conditions for pit slope angle design.
Four other holes will be drilled toward the west to intersect the SW proposed pit wall position and will be used for geotechnical slope design.
The metallurgical variability sampling and pit wall geotechnical information will be used in AVL’s bankable feasibility study (BFS).
Pit slope data
Diamond holes completed in 2009 and 2015 indicate that the weathering of material in block 60 is shallower than northern blocks 20 and 30 and this drilling is designed to confirm the observations and is required for the BFS.
Diamond holes will also be drilled for geotechnical data to determine important pit slope information.
Schedule optimisation
AVL’s dominant strike position of over 11 kilometres of the deposit offers flexibility for blending and schedule optimisation.
Notably, the Southern Resource blocks on granted M51/878 exhibit attractive geo-metallurgical qualities for mine scheduling and the company intends to include the southern indicated resources in the BFS mining schedule.
This would offer flexibility in mining, to ensure that the blend of material to be delivered to the plant is the optimal ratio to maximise plant operation, without requiring large waste pre-stripping and the stockpiling of lower recovery mineralisation.
Planned diamond drilling in resource blocks 50 and 60.
Looking forward
The drilling program is anticipated to be underway for four weeks.
Looking into 2021, AVL is advancing towards completion of the BFS mid-year.
The company is focused on the project’s potential to become the lowest cost primary vanadium producer.