Technology Metals Australia Ltd (ASX:TMT) has delivered a significant boost to the Murchison Technology Metals Project (MTMP) resource with the addition of a maiden ilmenite ore reserve estimate and extension of mine life to 25 years at the project, situated 50 kilometres south of Meekatharra in Western Australia.
The company began the integration study at the project in late 2021 to combine the high-grade, high-quality Yarrabubba deposit with the Gabanintha Vanadium Deposit to form the Murchison Technology Metals Project (MTMP).
The integration study updated the Yarrabubba ore reserve estimate of 15.88 million tonnes at 0.87% vanadium pentoxide and 10.03% titanium dioxide, a 69% increase on the previous ore reserve estimate, delivering a global MTMP ore reserve estimate of 44.48 million tonnes at 0.89% vanadium oxide.
The expanded Yarrabubba ore reserve estimate extends the potential MTMP mine life out to 25 years, with the dual revenue streams of vanadium pentoxide and ilmenite further de-risking the development of the MTMP.
“Significant revenue stream”
TMT managing director Ian Prentice said: “The updated Yarrabubba Ore Reserve has delivered a significant boost to the MTMP with the addition of the maiden ilmenite ore reserve estimate and extension of mine life to 25 years.
“The ilmenite production is expected to deliver a significant revenue stream to the MTMP, particularly in the initial ten years, further de-risking the development of the project.
“The economic evaluation completed as part of the ore reserve update indicates that the integrated MTMP meets the investment criteria for TMT to actively pursue the implementation phase of the project.
“Activities now being advanced, including the commercial tendering process to update the economics of the project, are expected to optimise the MTMP and lead to a development decision, which is expected by the end of 2022.”
Integration study
The higher vanadium in concentrate grades, excellent recoveries and the potential for highly sought after ilmenite by-product revenue from Yarrabubba was expected to materially enhance the economic metrics in the early years of the project, lowering the development risk on the MTMP.
The integration study assessed the metallurgical properties of Yarrabubba ore with regards to its suitability to be processed through the Gabanintha process flowsheet, any required modifications and the addition of a simple gravity circuit required to recover ilmenite from the non-magnetic process tailings stream.
This work confirmed that ore from Yarrabubba is highly amenable for processing through the original Gabanintha vanadium flowsheet, with the addition of an ilmenite recovery circuit.
Forward plan
DCF analysis conducted by Orelogy shows the integrated MTMP meets the investment criteria for TMT to pursue the next stages of project development.
With the MTMP process flowsheet and this updated ore reserve estimate now locked in, it is confirmed that ore from Yarrabubba is highly amenable for processing through the original Gabanintha vanadium flowsheet.
Subsequently, TMT has moved to commercial competitive tendering to update MTMP economic parameters and support the development of the financial model and a development decision is expected by the end of 2022.