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Australia

Richmond-Julia Creek Project

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Vanadium
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotRichmond-Julia Creek Vanadium Project is one of the largest undeveloped oxide vanadium resources in the world.

The Pre-Feasibility Study focussed on the higher-grade Lilyvale deposit. A total of 8.4Mt of total material is mined per annum, generating 4.06Mt of ore mined from the open pit for concentration. This mining rate yields a nominal mine life of over 100 years at Lilyvale. For the purposes of the economic analysis in the feasibility, a mine life of only 25 years is considered.

The final Terms of Reference for the EIS were issued in March 2023. Following the end of the financial year, the draft EIS for the Project was submitted to the Queensland Office of the Coordinator-General (OCG) in August 2024. Anticipated timeframes indicate determination of the EIS by June 2025 is achievable subject to all items having been addressed.

Richmond Vanadium decided to extend the timeframe for completion of the BFS by 6 months, with an expected completion in the June Quarter 2025.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Richmond Vanadium Technology Pty Ltd. 100 % Direct
Richmond Vanadium Technology is an Australian resources company which is developing its 100% owned Richmond – Julia Creek Vanadium Project.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The Richmond-Julia Creek project mineralisation is located within marine sediments of the Early Cretaceous Toolebuc Formation, a stratigraphic unit that occurs throughout the Eromanga Basin in central-northern Queensland.

The Eromanga Basin is a sub-basin of the Great Artesian Basin and consists of a number of thick sequences of non-marine and marine sedimentary units. The Toolebuc is part of the Rolling Downs Group of the Eromanga Basin that covers a wide but relatively shallow structural depression in eastern Australia, covering 1.5 million km2. The basin was developed as a major downward warpon a basement of Proterozoic to Palaeozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks during the Jurassic to Cretaceous Periods.

The Toolebuc Formation is a flat lying early Cretaceous (Albian ~ 100My) sediment that consists predominantly of black carbonaceous and bituminous shale and minor siltstone, with limestone lenses and coquinites (mixed limestone and clays). It is composed of two distinct units representing two different facies: an upper coarse limestone-rich-clay-oil shale unit (coquina) and a lower fine-grained carbonate-clay-oil shale unit.

The Toolebuc Formation outcrops only at the margins of the Eromanga and Carpentaria basins, except at Julia Creek where it is draped over an interpreted original basement high and has been structurally brought to the surface. Where the unit outcrops it forms low, rubbly, subtle topographic highs which have been the source of road building materials in many areas.

The limestone within the Toolebuc Formation has an abundant fossil assemblage which has been extensively studied. Two main faunal assemblages have been recognised, corresponding to the upper coquina facies (shelly limestone and clay) and a lower fine-grained carbonate shale facies. The organic matter in the fresh shale is predominantly lamellar and referred to by Hutton et al (1980) as ‘lamosite’ (lamellar oil shale). The organic compounds are described as Alginite B in order to distinguish them from the more generally recognised Alginite A, in which clear evidence of algal morphology can be observed. Alginite B comprises elongate anastomosing films derived from benthonic algae that are attributable to the Cyanophyceae genera of blue-green algae (Ozimic, 1986).

High magnification scanning electron microscopy reveals the oil shale contains abundant micro fossils, dominated by small planktonic foraminifera and coccoliths (algal plates) believed to be derived from Cyanophta / blue- green algae. Average grain size of the lower oil shale calcareous nanofossils and clays are less than 5-7 microns. The blue-green algae are interpreted to have formed extensive algal mats on the sea floor. The preservation of dead algal matter can be related to an oxidising-reducing boundary probably situated immediately below the base of the living algal mat layer and keeping pace with its upward growth. The clays and kerogen are derived from planktonic algae and blue- green benthonic algae with the calcite representing the inorganic component of the organisms.

Dimensions
Lilyvale is largely a sub-horizontal deposit between 7730000N and 7739000N; and from 680500E to 696700E. It has a roughly WNW-ESE strike. The Indicated resource is roughly 6km x 6km in areal extent. Deposit thickness is defined by V2O5 cut-off; at a 0.30% cutoff Lilyvale averages about 10m in thickness.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

A total of 8.4Mt of total material is mined per annum, generating 4.06Mt of ore mined from the open pit for concentration. This mining rate yields a nominal mine life of over 100 years at Lilyvale. For the purposes of the economic analysis in the feasibility, a mine life of only 25 years is considered.
CommodityUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
V2O5 kt 13318
All production numbers are expressed as flake.

Operational metrics

Metrics
Annual mining rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual ore mining rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe
Annual milling rate  ....  Subscribe
Stripping / waste ratio  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2021 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs V2O5 USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price V2O5 USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2021 study / presentation.

Operating Costs

CurrencyAverage
OP mining costs ($/t milled) AUD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2021 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Pre-Production capital costs $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 25, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 25, 2024

Aerial view:

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