- Toro Energy (TOE) has found it can produce vanadium as a by-product in the processing of uranium at its Wiluna Uranium Project in WA
- After completing laboratory testing in 2019, Toro saw that the vanadium in uranium ore could be extracted without any significant loss of uranium
- Toro then undertook engineering studies to evaluate the costs of adding vanadium extraction to the proposed processing plant
- The new studies estimate the plant could produce up to 499 tones of vanadium each year alongside 2.09 million pounds of uranium
- As a result, the capital cost of the modelled processing plant have increased by 6.5 per cent or $5.7 million
- On the market today, Toro is up 15.6 per cent and is trading at 1.9 cents per share
Toro Energy (TOE) has found it can produce vanadium as a by-product in the processing of uranium at its Wiluna Uranium Project in WA.
After completing laboratory testing in 2019, Toro saw that the vanadium in uranium ore could be extracted without any significant loss of uranium.
Following the discovery, Toro moved forward with engineering studies to
evaluate the costs of adding vanadium extraction to the proposed processing plant.
The engineering modelling has shown that adding vanadium will not have a huge effect on the overall processing cost.
Toro says the processing plant could produce 499 tones of vanadium as a by-product each year alongside 2.09 million pounds of uranium. This equates to 0.41 pounds of vanadium for every pound of uranium produced annually.
As a result, the site’s operating costs will increase by 1.8 per cent from the previous scoping study. Meanwhile, the capital cost of the modelled processing plant increases by 6.5 per cent or $5.7 million from $87.9 million in the previous scoping study.
“Engineering study shows that changing the processing plant proposed in the scoping study to include the production of vanadium as a by-product would be economic even at the lower end of historical V2O5 [vanadium] prices,” the company explained.
“Toro is continuing its efforts to find value and opportunities in the Wiluna Uranium Project in order to maintain the project as an early mover for a returning uranium market and price,” it added.
On the market today, Toro is up 15.6 per cent and is trading at 1.9 cents per share at 1:27 pm AEDT.