REG - Ferro-Alloy Resrcs. - Q3 2024 Production Results

Ferro-Alloy ResourcesAnnouncement

24/10/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 3799J  Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited  24 October 2024

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET
ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014 (INCLUDING AS IT FORMS PART OF THE LAWS OF
ENGLAND AND WALES BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018
("MAR").

 

24 October 2024

Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited

("Ferro-Alloy" or the "Group" or the "Company")

 

 Q3 2024 Production Results

 

Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited (LSE:FAR), the vanadium producer and developer
of the large Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Southern Kazakhstan, announces
the production results of the Group's existing operation for Q3 2024.

 

Q3 Production Results

 

                                         2023                                          2024
                                         Q1     Q2              TOTAL Q1, Q2 & Q3                                              TOTAL Q1, Q2 & Q3

                                         2023   2023     Q3                            Q1     Q2     Q3       % change vs Q2                          % change

                                                         2023                          2024   2024   2024

 Tonnes of concentrate processed         194.1  1,016.6  314.0  1,524.7                668.6  777.5  1,227.8  +57.9%           2,673.9                +75.4%

 Tonnes of vanadium pentoxide produced*  31.3   141.4    47.3   220.0                  81.6   87.6   52.3     -40.3%           221.5                  +0.7%

 Tonnes of molybdenum produced**         6.5    14.1     6.4    27.0                   7.1    6.9    7.1      +2.9%            21.1                   -21.9%

 Tonnes of nickel produced***            9.7    50.8     15.7   76.2                   33.4   38.8   63.9     +64.7%           136.1                  +78.6%

 

*     partly contained in ammonium metavanadate

**   in ferro-molybdenum

*** in nickel concentrate

 

Commentary

As first announced in July, the Company undertook test processing of
stockpiled nickel-rich residues held at the plant site during Q3. The nickel
residues contained lower levels of vanadium than historic bought-in catalysts,
resulting in 40.3% less vanadium production in Q3 than Q2, but this was offset
by having minimal raw material costs.  Overall, molybdenum output remained
consistent between the quarters. The metallurgical recoveries of vanadium and
molybdenum from the nickel residues in the testing period did not sufficiently
replicate the results achieved in the laboratory and the Company has decided
to revert to the treatment of standard concentrate raw materials, although
this decision might change in future when different metal prices prevail.

Production of vanadium pentoxide for the year to date is similar to that of
2023 while molybdenum output has decreased by 21.9%, comparatively, mainly as
result of metal content variations within the concentrates treated.

During Q3 2024 the average prices of vanadium pentoxide and molybdenum were
US$5.3/lb (Q3 2023: US$7.4/lb) and US$51.2/kg (Q3 2023: 54.1/kg),
respectively.

Production Outlook

Following the outcome of the commercial scale testing of the nickel-rich
residues the Company has reverted to processing bought-in catalysts on a
non-tolling basis.

The Company has sufficient catalysts for processing during Q4 2024 either
already at the plant site or on order.

Research and development are ongoing to determine whether the Company can
process the upgraded nickel concentrates to produce ferro-nickel.

 

Commenting on the production results, Nick Bridgen, CEO of Ferro-Alloy
Resources said:

"Current trading conditions are difficult, but the operation continues to make
a contribution to overheads whilst we complete the main project feasibility
study."

ENDS

 

For further information, visit www.ferro-alloy.com or contact:

 

 Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited  Nick Bridgen (CEO) / William Callewaert (CFO)  info@ferro-alloy.com

 Shore Capital                  Toby Gibbs/Lucy Bowden                         +44 207 408 4090

 (Joint Corporate Broker)

 Panmure Liberum Limited        Scott Mathieson/John More                      +44 20 3100 2000

 (Joint Corporate Broker)

 BlytheRay (Financial PR)       Tim Blythe/Will Jones                          +44 20 7138 3204

 

Notes to Editors

About Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited:

The Company's operations are all located at the Balasausqandiq deposit in
Kyzylordinskoye Oblast in the South of Kazakhstan. Currently the Company has
two main business activities:

a) the high grade Balasausqandiq vanadium project (the "Project"); and

b) an existing vanadium concentrate processing operation (the "Existing
Operation")

Balasausqandiq is a very large deposit, with vanadium as the principal product
together with several by-products. Owing to the nature of the ore, the capital
and operating costs of development are very much lower than for other vanadium
projects.

The most recent mineral resource estimate for ore-body one (of seven) provided
an Indicated Mineral Resource of 32.9 million tonnes at a mean grade of 0.62%
V(2)O(5) equating to 203,364 contained tonnes of vanadium pentoxide
("V(2)O(5)"). In the system of reserve estimation used in Kazakhstan the
reserves are estimated to be over 70m tonnes in ore-bodies 1 to 5 but this
does not include the full depth of ore-bodies 2 to 5 or the remaining
ore-bodies which remain substantially unexplored.

The Project will be developed in two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2, with Phase 1
treating 1.65m tonnes per year.

There is an existing concentrate processing operation at the site of the
Balasausqandiq deposit. The production facilities were originally created from
a 15,000 tonnes per year pilot plant which was then expanded and adapted to
recover vanadium, molybdenum and nickel from purchased concentrates.

The existing operation is located on the same site and uses some of the same
infrastructure as the Project, but is a separate operation which will continue
in parallel with the development and operation of the Project.

 

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