Manuka Resources’ Taranaki project gets added boost

The New Zealand Government has released a draft critical minerals list recognising the importance of vanadium and titanium
Both are contained in the world-class Taranaki iron sands deposit owned by TTR, a wholly owned subsidiary of Manuka Resources
Changes under pro-mining Luxon-led government support the country’s mining and resources sector and is a major lift in Taranaki’s project area.

Special Report: New Zealand’s Government has released a draft critical minerals list recognising the importance of resources in Manuka Resources subsidiary TTR’s world-class Taranaki iron sands deposit.

Manuka Resources’ Taranaki VTM Project has more forward momentum with the New Zealand Government releasing a draft critical minerals list that includes vanadium and titanium, resources held in the deposit.

The large-scale iron sands project on NZ’s west coast is a globally leading deposit of vanadium, with the strategic and economic importance of both it and titanium recognised in the document.

The release of the list closely follows the release of NZ’s draft minerals strategy and the Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) report on the country’s potential economic mineral deposits and resources. They followed the election of the pro-mining Christopher Luxon-led government last October.

Chair of Manuka’s (ASX:MKR) wholly owned subsidiary Trans-Tasman Resources Limited Alan Eggers says the list provides clear insights and facts on the country’s mineral resources and their development potential.

“These documents highlight that New Zealand has a significant minerals resource inventory that can be extracted for considerable economic benefits, and with little impact on the environment,” he said.

The TTR-operated Taranaki project has 3.2 billion tonnes of vanadium rich titanomagnetite (VTM) iron sand resource, ranking it as one of the larger drilled vanadium deposits globally.

NZ project with global scale

A granted mining licence allows initial production of 5 million tonnes per annum of VTM concentrate. This equates to around 18,000tpa of V2O5, making Manuka one of the largest aspiring vanadium producers on the ASX.

TTR has been on a roll this year after getting a 375% lift to the project’s mining permit area in July and an invitation for it to apply to for inclusion in NZ’s Fast Track Approvals Bill.

The North Island project has the potential to generate $1 billion in annual export revenue, about 1650 jobs nation-wide and over $200 million in royalties and tax revenues a year for the government.

“The world class vanadium resource we have discovered is of national significance and extremely valuable,” Eggers said. “Development of the project could elevate New Zealand to be the third largest producer of this strategic metal globally and the largest in the western world.”

Strategic importance

Vanadium is essential for high strength steel, but its use as a viable storage solution in vanadium redox flow batteries for large scale wind and solar renewable power could soon take over.

New research is also demonstrating that vanadium can be used in lithium-ion batteries to enable faster-charging, longer lasting, safer and more powerful batteries than those made with existing tech.

Meanwhile Manuka’s plans to start low-capex production of another metal that’s on the up are in full swing at its Mt Boppy gold mine.

The steps to bring the 100%-owned gold mine into production this year follow the relocation of a mill from Manuka’s Wonawinta silver mine and purchase of second-hand production equipment. Those milestones came after an $8 million capital raise, led by Bell Potter and Shaw Capital Partners and supported by sophisticated investors.

This article was developed in collaboration with Manuka Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.