Perth-based minerals explorer Surefire Resources has appointed as managing director a highly experienced resources executive with a career in exploration and mining stretching 30 years.
Paul Burton is a geologist who holds an MSc in Applied Mineral Exploration from McGill University, Canada. He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Burton has previously held senior and executive roles at Anglo American, De Beers, Normandy Mining and Minotaur Exploration. He has managed successful corporate activities, mineral exploration, feasibility and research study programs.
His most recent position was as Managing Director at TNG, now Tivan, where he was instrumental in resource discoveries and establishing a portfolio of quality exploration assets driving the company to a market capital value of more than $100M. Significantly, he also drove the company’s strategies for the critical mineral vanadium.
Surefire Executive Chairman, Vladimir Nikolaenko said: “The Board and I are delighted with the appointment of Mr Burton at this pivotal time as we advance the company’s key vanadium projects at Victory Bore and Unaly Hill, Perenjori Iron Ore and our emerging Yidby gold discovery.”
Surefire says Burton is one of the most experienced professionals in critical minerals projects notably vanadium and its products and battery minerals.
He will assume his new position on 6 February.
Surefire is preparing for an eventful 2023. The year started with a bang when the company announced a resource upgrade to its already massive resource at its outstanding vanadium project following a successful RC drilling campaign at the Victory Bore deposit in WA’s Mid-West, just south of Sandstone.
The 62-hole program for over 5189m, delivered a massive 56 per cent increase in the deposit’s vanadium resource which now stands at 235 million tonnes at 0.39 per cent vanadium pentoxide.
That’s not the entire story, however, as Victory Bore is only part of the greater Victory Bore-Unaly Hill project. The project’s total resource now stands at a mind-blowing 321 million tonnes grading 0.40 per cent vanadium pentoxide.
The deposits together represent one of the largest vanadium oxide resources in WA and with an inferred mineral resource of 237 million tonnes grading 0.43 per cent vanadium pentoxide, 24.9 per cent iron and 5.9 per cent titanium dioxide represent an enormous 2.26 billion pounds of contained vanadium oxide.
Vanadium is commonly used in the manufacture of redox flow batteries which are used to store electricity for utility networks, in addition to energy generated by wind and solar systems.
With the global green energy push seemingly unstoppable, it’s little wonder that vanadium prices are also tipped to rise and Surefire Resources’ massive vanadium resources could see it well placed to take advantage.
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