VRX Silica have the greenlight to mine 312 Mt @ 97.2% of glass-making amenable silicon dioxide within the Arrowsmith silica precinct near Geraldton, Western Australia.
Following the grant of its main production lease, the Company now holds the final of three applications which will enable large-scale development and processing of an in-demand silica resource exceeding one billion tonnes.
VRX Silica Managing Director Bruce Maluish said the lease was another extensive application of 1995 hectares and substantially covers its Mineral Resources.
The combined Mining Leases over the Company’s Arrowsmith Silica Sand Projects now amount to 5,623 Ha with a significant inventory of over 1.11Bt of silica sand at an average 97.6% SiO2 which can be upgraded to glassmaking quality,” Mr Maluish said.
“The Arrowsmith Brand Mining Lease is part of the very long-term planning that VRX Silica has at Arrowsmith that allows for flexibility in selecting low impact areas for development,” he added.
Prior testwork at Arrowsmith Brand had demonstrated the large resource can be processed to high-quality and in-demand glass making sand, and VRX Silica just yesterday secured a $2 million grant to develop a high-purity quartz sand manufacturing process to reach 99.999 per cent silicon dioxide purity.
Forward plan
The VRX portfolio has been built with consistency, claiming silica projects with high purity upside and connected to the major ports of Western Australia, and the company has developed a well-drilled process it expects to advance Arrowsmith Brand in tune with its other projects.
Activities across its portfolio will include environmental surveys, further metallurgical work, and marketing and mine plan studies set to inform scoping and pre-feasibility studies as it looks towards large-scale development.
Arrowsmith North stands as the most developed project and, subject to final approvals, is expected to come online this year, beginning mining and processing of silica sands with what is predicted to be a robust operating margin.
