King River Resources Limited provided this update on its 100% owned Speewah Vanadium deposit located in the Kimberley of Western Australia. Test work and studies are underway to develop a new process flow sheet to produce high purity Vanadium Pentoxide (V2O5), Vanadium Electrolyte (VE), Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and metallic iron. These products are used in the manufacture of electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), master alloys (Al-Ti-V materials), and titanium oxide pigments.

This announcement reports the Board's decision to expand its Specialty Metals focus to include vanadium and outlines the programmes and targeted products to achieve these new developments. Metallurgical Testwork to develop a new Process flow sheet: In 2022, Murdoch University's Hydrometallurgy Research Group commenced a new R&D program to develop a roast process for multi-commodity production from the Speewah Vanadium deposit. The Murdoch University work is investigating both an oxidative salt roast-water leaching process and a reductive roast approach using a high grade magnetic concentrate feed from the Central Vanadium deposit at Speewah.

Sample 1 used in the new test work contains 2.44% V2O5 (i.e. 2.01% V2O3) which has been produced from a 6 tonne RC chips sample by magnetic separation methods in 2011. A second test sample will be investigated next. Sample 2 will be made from PQ drill core (currently in storage) from metallurgical holes SDH11-06, SDH11-09 and SDH11-12 from the Central deposit.

The salt roast process will aim to produce V2O5 as the main product but an important objective of the test programme is to investigate the production of metallic iron by-product by reductive roasting. The opportunity to produce an iron metal rather than iron oxide or iron-titanium calcine from the salt roast process, can avoid disposing this material as a waste or remaining as low value iron furnace feedstock. The second stage reductive roast processes will trial the use of different reductants including hydrogen gas, which is considered a green alternative to coal and/or carbon gases.

The use of hydrogen could offer a carbon neutral production of iron metal, with no CO2 emissions and therefore significant environmental benefits. In addition, the production of a second by-product which could be used a feedstock for titanium dioxide pigment production will be considered, as well as some other new extraction approaches. The programme has been planned and costed and is currently underway.

Also, vanadium electrolyte production will be investigated under a separate agreement involving the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre. The testwork programme has begun on Sample 1 to optimise the process conditions. Initial thermochemical modelling and mineral characterisation work is complete, and the first salt roast tests are underway.

KRR will provide updates as they are released.