Surefire Resources says consultants Snowden Optiro will undertake the pre-feasibility study on the company’s flagship Victory Bore deposit in Western Australia.
This comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that Surefire had completed a memorandum-of-understanding with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for that country to conduct downstream processing of magnetite concentrate.
The 100%-owned Victory Bore project is located 400km from the port of Geraldton.
35 years in the minerals space
Surefire says Snowden Optiro brings a wealth of experience to the Victory Bore development team.
The consultants will provide the key guidelines for completion of the pre-feasibility study.
The study is being managed by metallurgical group METS Engineers.
Snowden Optiro is described as a Tier 1 international geological and mining consulting group with more than 35 years of experience in the Australian and international mineral resources area.
Wide scope of PFS work
Snowden Optiro has clearly defined targets.
As far as the mine plan is concerned, it will undertake modelling preparation, equipment selection, pit optimisation and design, waste dump design, along with life-of-mine projections and haulage estimates.
When it comes to mining cost estimates, Snowden Optiro will be responsible for contractor cost estimates, pricing the development and cost model.
On completion, Snowden Optiro will produce a mining report that can feed into the overall pre-feasibility study.
Downstream potential
Meanwhile, Surefire Resources says the MOU with Saudi Arabia provides it with a clear pathway for maximising value from the Victory Bore project.
There is a development strategy for a low-cost mine and beneficiation plant at the Victory Bore site, where concentrate will be produced for transport to the port at Geraldton.
That concentrate will then be shipped to Dammam, Saudi Arabia, where downstream processing will produce high value vanadium pentoxide, vanadium electrolyte, ferro-vanadium and by-products of pig iron and ferro-titanium.
Victory Bore has a JORC resource of 321 million tonnes.
