VRX Silica Ltd (ASX:VRX) has posted an independently estimated maiden mineral resource for the Arrowsmith Central prospect within its Arrowsmith Silica Sand Project in WA.
The 28-million-tonne inferred resource grades at 97.7% silica and is based on an exploration program of 39 hand-held auger drill holes in a small portion of the tenement area.
The mineral resource was estimated by CSA Global.
VRX managing director Bruce Maluish said: “Arrowsmith Central is immediately adjacent to the Eneabba-Geraldton rail line to export bulk products out of Geraldton which offers a unique low capex logistics solution.”
The resource area is adequate for initial mining studies and can be increased substantially with future aircore drilling.
Additional drilling is planned for early 2019 with the company recently completing an Aboriginal Heritage survey with representatives of the Southern Yamatji claimant group for a wider-ranging drill program.
READ: VRX Silica fields interest from three Asian companies for silica sand offtake
The exploration program also provided a bulk sample which was used for the second and third iterations of metallurgical test work.
The testing verified the sand could be beneficiated to glass-making quality.
An additional test work program currently underway is investigating the recovery and quality of products for foundry industry, particularly in Korea.
VRX Silica reveals maiden JORC resource for Muchea Silica Sands Project
VRX recently fielded indicative interest from three different distributors to annually purchase 590,000 tonnes of silica sand from the company’s two WA projects.
Three non-binding letters of intent were received for silica sand offtake from a diverse range of silica sand distributors in the Asia-Pacific region with requirements in three different industries.
All three have long-term associations with the silica sand supply sector in the region, which is VRX’s primary target market.