Emerging strategic metals company TNG Ltd is teaming up with the owner of a world-class vanadium-titanium resource that is similar to its flagship Mt Peake asset to evaluate “mutually beneficial opportunities.”
In an update to the ASX this week, TNG reported it had signed a heads of agreement with the BBI Group that owns the Balla Balla vanadium-titanium-iron project located on the Pilbara coast.
BBI is a majority-owned subsidiary of New Zealand’s Todd Corporation, a large privately-owned conglomerate with interests that include oil and gas, minerals and electricity generation.
One of the key areas of mutual interest is TNG’s TIVAN technology, which is a potential game-changer for the processing of vanadium and titanium from its Mt Peake deposit. The proprietary process treats ore without the need for expensive, energy-intensive roasting.
The new agreement provides for the parties to assess the potential applications of TIVAN at Balla Balla and assess any potential synergies that may exists on the development of their respective projects.
The Mt Peake project which is 230km northwest of Alice Springs in the N.T, is in the final stages of development planning after TNG last month secured Federal environmental approval.
The company is currently in discussions with different parties to secure project financing from international groups that are currently reviewing the opportunity to provide pre-production finance and potentially even a direct investment into TNG and/or the Mt Peake project.
A DFS published last November confirmed the potential for outstanding returns from Mt Peake, which is making its way to production at a time of buoyant vanadium demand. High-purity vanadium is one of the key ingredients in the global battery metals boom that now looks to be unstoppable.
The project is forecast to produce life-of-mine net cash flows of $11.7bn, a pre-tax IRR of 44% and a staggering NPV of $4.7bn.
BBI’s 100%-owned Balla Balla project is at an earlier stage of development, but also boasts a world-class JORC resource, with 456 million tonnes grading 0.64% vanadium pentoxide, 13.7% titanium dioxide and 45% iron. BBI is also intending to develop nearby port infrastructure.
TNG’s Managing Director, Paul Burton, said: “As part of this arrangement, we will explore opportunities to use our TIVAN hydrometallurgical process at BBI’s Balla Balla Vanadium Project, as well as a number of other potential growth pathways. The Balla Balla deposit is another exceptional world class vanadium resource and our initial test work has shown the TIVAN technology is ideally suited to processing its material.”
By Matt Birney
