Name of the Project
Gabanintha vanadium project.

Location
The project is located 40 km south of Meekatharra, in Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
Minerals explorer Byrah Resources.

Project Description
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) has confirmed Gabanintha to be a long-life, low-cost, high-value, relatively low-risk and technically strong development opportunity, with a proposed average production rate of 27.9-million pounds a year (12 800 t/y) of high-purity vanadium pentoxide product.

The peak steady-state production rate is proposed to be about 30-million to 31-million pounds a year (13 700 t/y to 14 200 t/y), which would establish Gabanintha as the world’s biggest primary production vanadium producer.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of A$1.32-billion and internal rate of return of 34%, with a payback of 3.2 years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction process plant capital costs are estimated at A$454-million, which include detailed design engineering work (front-end engineering design study, or FEED); the early works ordering of long-lead time items; process plant construction; supporting infrastructure; engineering, procurement and construction management; owners’ costs; the buying of initial reagents; consumables and spare parts; commissioning and contingency.

Preproduction mining capital is estimated at A$16-million, predominantly comprising mining contractor mobilisation and establishment costs. Stage 2 deferred capital expenditure of A$64-million, designed to provide benefits for reagent consumption and vanadium recovery, is proposed once the project is in positive cash flow. There will also be working capital required up to and during the commissioning and initial ramp-up phase before the generation of positive cash flow.

Planned Start/End Date
Production is expected in 2022.

Latest Developments
Minerals explorer Bryah Resources has reported a 15% increase in the indicated and inferred base metal mineral resource estimate at the Australian Vanadium project, which is located within the company’s Gabanintha project, in Western Australia.

The indicated and inferred mineral resource has increased from 31.3-million tonnes to 36-million tonnes of 766 parts per million (ppm) nickel, 212 ppm copper and 231 ppm cobalt.

Fellow-listed Australian Vanadium holds the mineral rights over the vanadium, titanium, iron and cobalt at the project, and also holds a 4.8% shareholding in Bryah.

“With Australian Vanadium progressing strongly towards vanadium production, completing the bankable feasibility study and being granted a A$49-million grant from the government, Bryah also comes a step closer to realising value in its mineral rights,” said Bryah CEO Ashley Jones.

Bryah and Australian Vanadium are working together to maximise the recovery of metals at the deposit, with Bryah taking the lead on base metals recovery.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Wave International (DFS); METS Engineering (metallurgical testwork, product assessment and mineral processing); CSA Global (resource and mining study work); Mine Geotech (openpit geotechnical inputs for CSA Global); Integrate Sustainability (environmental, heritage, health, safety and statutory approvals advice and assistance); AQ2 (project water supply and pit dewatering); Hydrologia (surface water assessment); and Biologic Environmental Survey (flora, fauna and subterranean fauna).

Contact Details for Project Information
Bryah Resources, tel +61 8 9321 0001or email info@bryah.com.au.