Surefire Resources unveils high

Surefire Resources (ASX: SRN) has revealed a significant high purity alumina (HPA) production opportunity at its world-class Victory Bore vanadium project in Western Australia.

A maiden resource estimate (MRE) of the aluminium oxide materials at Victory Bore has recognised a total of up to 37.7 Mt at 23.3%.

The MRE also includes a near surface measured and indicated component of 17Mt at 23.1% aluminium oxide.

With HPA considered a "critical mineral" by the Australian government, Surefire believes the aluminium oxide resource estimation has significantly increased the value of the Victory Bore project.

Notably, the production of aluminium oxide from potential future mining at Victory Bore will come from waste material as the vanadium and aluminium ores are mutually exclusive in the deposit.

The company has identified that magnetic beneficiation is able remove the aluminium from the magnetite ore.

In March 2023, Surefire unveiled a significant, independently calculated Exploration Target Estimate (ETE) for the Victory Bore of between 682 Mt to 1,190 Mt at 0.2% to 0.43% vanadium oxide.

The company also revealed a 56% increase to its 321Mt at 0.39% vanadium oxide numbers in an updated the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) produced earlier this year.

The current pre-feasibility study (PFS) on the Victory Bore Vanadium project is being run alongside test work to extract 4N HPA from the Victory Bore feedstock.

The company has received promising results to date and is now examining grade and processing options. These studies will assess whether HPA production will be added to the vanadium project PFS.

The Victory Bore project, located near the port city of Geraldton, is made up of the Victory Bore and Unaly Hill prospects, which have a combined strike length of 18km.

HPA is considered by the Australian government to be important requirement for the local industrial sector.

At this stage its primary use is in the creation of synthetic sapphire crystals for inclusion in LED lights, semiconductors, watch faces and smartphones.

However, major demand growth is expected to come from its potential use in batteries that will power the booming electric vehicles (EVs) sector.

HPA has been identified to have significant potential as a coat for separators that keep the cathodes and anodes in lithium-ion batteries separated.

It has been suggested this may significantly improve safety by providing increased thermal stability, reducing the risk of batteries catching fire.

It has also been suggested this will lead to improved battery life and lower self-discharge. It is estimated that EV battery may use between 5kg to 30kg of 4HPA in automotive batteries.

Studies by to Business Research Insight, estimate that sales of ceramic coated separators will grow to US$7.8 billion (A$11.7 billion) by 2028.

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