- Neometals (NMT) completes an engineering cost study (ECS) on the recovery of high-purity vanadium pentoxide from high-grade vanadium-bearing steel by-product
- This work is part of the development of the VRP1 project which will be located in Finland and will process and recover high-purity vanadium from vanadium-bearing slag
- The study outlines an operating cost estimate of US$4.38 (A$6.40) per pound of vanadium pentoxide, placing the project in the lowest quartile of the industry cost curve
- Neometals is now finalising a feasibility study which will include the findings from the ECS
- Company shares are up 4.06 per cent to trade at $1.03 at 1:38 pm AEST
Neometals (NMT) has completed an engineering cost study (ECS) on the recovery of high-purity vanadium pentoxide from high-grade vanadium-bearing steel by-product.
The battery materials company has the option to enter a 50:50 joint venture partnership with Critical Minerals to develop a vanadium recovery project, called the “VRP1 Project”.
The companies are evaluating the potential to build a facility in Finland that will process and recover high-purity vanadium from vanadium-bearing slag.
The study was conducted with the help of engineering group, Sweco Industry Oy, and outlined different outcomes to a pre-feasibility study (PFS) completed in May 2021.
The ECS outlined an operating cost estimate of US$4.38 (A$6.40) per pound of vanadium pentoxide. This places the VRP1 project in the lowest quartile of the industry cost curve which Neometals said was encouraging.
It also outlined an annual throughput rate of 300,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) compared to the previous 200,000 tpa reported in the PFS. When considering a 300,000 throughput rate, initial capital costs are expected to total US$341 million compared to the US$183.4 million outlined for a 200,000 tpa facility.
“Completion of the ECS has provided additional confidence in the operating and capital costs of VRP1, the teams have significantly reduced the technical risk of the project,” Neometals Managing Director Chris Reed said.
“Combining this high-grade feed stock with our innovative process flowsheet can deliver very high purity, low-cost vanadium chemicals globally with a very low carbon footprint.
“As Europe’s only advanced high purity vanadium development project, VRP1 is a strategically important asset.”
As part of the VRP1 evaluation activities, Neometals is now finalising a feasibility study which will include the findings from the ECS.
Company shares were up 4.06 per cent to trade at $1.03 at 1:38 pm AEST.