LONDON (Alliance News) - Bushveld Minerals Ltd Wednesday said it is building a new dedicated Vanadium platform on its main magnetite layer deposit at its iron ore project in South Africa, a step in a process it hopes will make it one of the world's biggest Vanadium miners.
The mineral development company with several operations in Africa said the main magnetite layer deposit has previously reported an initial JORC-compliant 52 million tonne indicated resource with a top-tier vanadium grade of 1.48% vanadium on site.
Bushveld said it will now investigate the development of an operation at the site capable of supporting production of between 5,000 and 10,000 tonnes a year of vanadium products.
The company also said that in recent months, further work at the newly named Bushveld Vanadium Project intersected new areas of vanadium, and Bushveld believes the project may thus contain a potential of over 200 million tonnes vanadium rich resource.
Vanadium is mainly used by the steel industry as a strengthening and anti-corrosive additive, with consumption expected to increase as the Chinese government has begun a policy to replace use of low strength steel bars with high-strength bars when producing steel.
Bushveld is now going to carry out a work programme to develop Bushveld Vanadium and expects to complete a scoping study and pre-feasibility study at the site within 2014.
Bushveld shares were up 2.5% to 3.74 pence Wednesday.
By Tom McIvor; tommcivor@alliancenews.com; @TomMcIvor1
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Bushveld Minerals (BMN)