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Australia
Medcalf Project

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 Location:
102 km SW from Norseman, Western Australia, Australia

  Project Contacts:
Office F, Level 1 1139 Hay Street
PO Box 354
West Perth
Western Australia, Australia
6005
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax(618)-9321-0721
EmailEmail
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StagePermitting
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Vanadium
  • V2O5
  • Titanium dioxide
  • Fe2O3
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Processing
  • Gravity separation
  • Calcining
  • Magnetic separation
  • Roasting
Mine Life12.5 years (as of Jan 1, 2016)


Owners

Source: p. 7
CompanyInterestOwnership
Audalia Resources Ltd. 100 % Direct
Audalia owns the Medcalf project 100% that comprises of M63/656, E63/1133, E63/1134and E63/1855.

Deposit Type

  • Sedimentary
  • Banded iron formation


Summary:

The Medcalf Project is located in the Archaean aged Lake Johnston greenstone belt in the Yilgarn Craton. This belt contains komatiite lava flows, subvolcanic intrusions, mafic volcanic rocks, felsic volcanic rocks, banded iron formation and sedimentary rocks. The deposit is hosted by the Medcalf layered sill, which is a flat lying igneous body which has intruded parallel to the enclosing basalts. The sill is comprised of an upper gabbroic zone, a middle pyroxenite zone, with a lower amphibolite zone. Vanadium and titanium have initially been concentrated in a flat lying pyroxenite unit, which has subsequently been further enriched in these metals through weathering and regolith formation.

The Medcalf deposit is hosted by a layered igneous intrusion which was emplaced into the predominantly tholeiitic basalt sequence of the Maggie Hays Formation in the lower part of the Lake Johnston Greenstone belt (~2.9 Ga). The host intrusion is a layered basic sill of the gravity differentiated type. It is comprised of an upper gabbroic zone, a middle pyroxenite zone, with a lower amphibolite zone in the footwall. Three separate zones of vanadium mineralisation have been identified within the project area and named the Vesuvius, Fiji and Egmont prospects. In the Medcalf deposit vanadium and titanium have been concentrated in a pyroxenite unit, which has subsequently been enriched in these metals through weathering and regolith formation. The Medcalf deposit is located within the Gordon anticline, a regional northwest trending anticlinal structure. The Medcalf layered sill has been intruded low in the greenstone succession and mapping places it in the hinge zone of a major, gently north plunging anticline. The host sill and volcanics have been metamorphosed to the almandine amphibolite facies of regional metamorphism.

In the mineralised area the magnetite-rich sequence is deeply weathered, with +60m of saprolite showing vertical zonation of weathering minerals due to progressive weathering. The primary mineralisation is the result of gravity accumulations of oxide phases within the pyroxenite zone of the sill. Primary magnetite rich igneous rocks are extensively weathered and show progressive loss of calcium, sodium, magnesium, silica and sulphur. Mafic and ultramafic mineral assemblages with abundant magnetite and ilmenite in unweathered rocks weather to kaolinite, hematite, goethite and minor clays, while ilmenite remains largely unaffected by weathering. Vanadium and titanium were essentially immobile during weathering and thus preferentially enriched through the removal of other rock constituents. Vanadium is present in the samples as microscopic and submicroscopic constituents of hematite, goethite and several other iron minerals.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

The pit optimisations were completed using processing costs and metallurgical recoveries as provided in the PFS. A mine schedule was generated from the optimisations with total material movements (ore and waste) and calculated metal grades on a diluted basis.

The mine study was based on parent blocks with dimensions of 20m x 20m x 2m with no sub-ceiling and estimated using ordinary kriging (OK) methodology. The resource block model was converted into a model suitable for use in open pit mine engineering functions such as open pit optimisation, design and production scheduling. Pit designs were then developed and three separate open pits identified.

Following the completion of the pit designs, material inventory was reported for use in the production schedule using revised mining recovery parameters to determine cut-off grades.

A mining production schedule was completed using the optimisation pit shells and resultant pit designs. The mine schedule proposes that Vesuvius Stage 1 is mined first for approximately 8 years. Mining commences at Vesuvius Stage 2 in Year 7 and continues through to Year 13. The Egmont and Fuji deposits then supplement the later part of Vesuvius Stage 1 and continue through to Year 12.

This was purposefully done to defer waste stripping as long as practicable and in doing so, maximise project value. The Medcalf Project has a very low mine total strip ratio of 0.6 (waste: ore tonnes) and a strip ratio of 0.2 during the mining of Vesuvius Stage 1. Vesuvius is higher grade than the other deposits, containing 76% of the overall vanadium metal and 73% of the overall titanium metal in the Mineral Inventory.

An average of 1.85 Mt of material is mined in the first 7 years of operation, with a ramp up from Year 8 for an average of 3.6 Mt over the ensuing 3-year period.


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

  • Gravity separation
  • Calcining
  • Magnetic separation
  • Roasting

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

The pilot scale testwork was performed at GZRINM piloting facility in Guangzhou, China. Approximately 5.5 tonnes of representative samples were processed in the pilot testwork to validate the optimum process parameters.

The developed process flowsheet consists of comminution circuit, beneficiation circuit, roasting circuit and product separation circuit.

Composite ore is fed to a crushing and milling circuit which grinds material to the optimal size for magnetic separation. A low intensity magnetic separator (LIMS) then produces the first concentrate Fe-V concentrate 1, while the tails proceed to a wet high intensity magnetic separator (WHIMS). Primary concentrate produced by WHIMS is then fed to the flash roasting circuit under reductive environment. The calcine product discharged from the roasting furnace is ground to optimal size before fed to drum magnetic separator. The drum magnetic separator produces the second concentrate Fe- ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameterAvg. LOM
V2O5 Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required
V2O5 Head Grade, % 0.56
V2O5 Concentrate Grade, %  ......  Subscription required
Titanium dioxide Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required
Titanium dioxide Head Grade, % 10.2
Titanium dioxide Concentrate Grade, %  ......  Subscription required
Fe2O3 Head Grade, % 58
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Projected Production:

CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
V2O5 Concentrate kt 5.872
Titanium dioxide Concentrate t  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Vanadium Metal in concentrate t  ......  Subscription required
Fe2O3 t  ......  Subscription required

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Stripping / waste ratio 0.6 *
Waste tonnes, LOM 10,351,121 t *
Ore tonnes mined, LOM 18,301,806 t *
Total tonnes mined, LOM 28,652,927 t *
Annual processing rate 1.5 Mt *
* According to 2016 study.

Reserves at March 9, 2016:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGrade
Indicated 23 Mt V2O5 0.47 %
Indicated 23 Mt Titanium dioxide 8.5 %
Inferred 8.8 Mt V2O5 0.4 %
Inferred 8.8 Mt Titanium dioxide 8.1 %
Total Resource 31.8 Mt V2O5 0.45 %
Total Resource 31.8 Mt Titanium dioxide 8.4 %

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Assumed price Fe2O3 USD 40 / t *
Assumed price V2O5 USD 15,000 / t *
Assumed price Titanium dioxide USD 2,200 / t *
* According to 2016 study / presentation.

Operating Costs:

Units2016
OP mining costs ($/t mined) AUD 7.13 *
Processing costs ($/t milled) AUD  ......  Subscription required
G&A ($/t milled) AUD  ......  Subscription required
Total operating costs ($/t milled) AUD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2016 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2016 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Total CapEx $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Total OpEx $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Gross revenue (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Heavy Mobile Equipment:

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Dec 15, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Dec 15, 2020
Subscription required - Subscription is required.


Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2020
Press Release 2016
Press Release 2014
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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