Surefire Resources NL (ASX:SRN) has confirmed “excellent continuity” of vanadium zones at the 100%-owned Victory Bore Vanadium Deposit after completing a preliminary geological model of infill reverse circulation (RC) drill holes using portable XRF analyses.
About 5,188 metres of close-spaced RC infill drilling along 1.4 kilometres of strike were completed to upgrade the deposit’s resource and provide samples for a pre-feasibility (PFS) study.
Logging of fresh RC chips has also revealed disseminated sulphides including pyrite, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite associated with increasing amounts of vanadium-titanium-magnetite.
The RC samples will be assayed for nickel, cobalt and copper, which may occur in valuable concentrations.
Victory Bore diamond core showing vanadium-magnetite rich core with disseminated sulphides, primarily iron sulphide,
Excellent geometry
Surefire chief executive officer Cain Fogarty said: “The technical work program at our Victory Bore-Unaly Hill Vanadium Project continues while we await the lab assay data.
“The initial geological interpretation is encouraging because the deposit shows excellent geometry and continuity of mineralisation with a relatively thin weathered overburden, which we expect will support favourable mining conditions.
In addition, with the discovery of base metal sulphides, we will investigate the potential to generate additional revenue via a sulphide concentrate that could be produced from flotation of the vanadium magnetite tailings.”
Not fully tested
Victory Bore infill RC drilling, and resource location within the extensive layered gabbro complex and Surefire’s tenure.
The Victory Bore-Unaly Hill Project is in the Mid-West mining district of Western Australia, 50 kilometres south of Sandstone.
Its total strike length of more than 20 kilometres is yet to be fully tested, which illustrates the project’s long-term potential.
The combined project comprises one of the largest vanadium resources in Western Australia, with an inferred mineral resource of 237 million tonnes at 0.43% vanadium, 24.9% iron and 5.9% titanium dioxide.