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General mining & base metals

Ferro-Alloy's Balasausqandiq project still main value driver, says broker

Supply problems will hit this year but longer-term opportunity intact, ShoreCap says

Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd (LSE:FAR)’s supply problems have prompted a revision of its numbers by house broker Shore Capital, though it still believes the Balasausqandiq project is a world-class and more importantly, a very commercial vanadium deposit.

In an update this morning, the company warned that the disruption would have a material impact on this year’s results, but as Balasausqandiq in theory can have negative costs of production it remains the main driver of FAR’s valuation.

“Given Balasausqandiq’s sedimentary origin, low-cost vanadium extraction is possible through leaching rather than expensive pre-concentration or roasting as is the case with FAR’s peers.”

Vanadium prices have fallen but at US$7.4/lb are in line with the broker’s long-term price and should be well supported, adds Shore Cap, despite weaker demand in the Chinese construction market, given the global increase of installations of vanadium flow batteries.