Suvo has expanded the size of its Nova silica sands project and will accelerate the Phase Two drilling program to allow for the inclusion of historical drilling.

The award of exploration licence E70/5324 means the project now consists of four highly prospective silica sand tenements covering a 169 sqkm area.

Previous test work has already confirmed that silica sand from Nova is suitable for use in glass manufacturing and foundry applications – including the casting of electric vehicle motor parts.

Meanwhile, Suvo Strategic Materials (ASX:SUV) plans to carry out a small drill program to twin historical holes once the current metallurgical drilling program at the White Cloud kaolin project is completed.

This drilling will allow for the inclusion of historical drilling results from RGC Exploration that were undertaken during the 1990s.

Drilling by RGC was aimed at finding heavy mineral deposits and was conducted on areas of yellow sand with vertical aircore holes nominally spaced along the line at 120m.

“The Nova tenure package is now complete and work programs are being done to reduce time frame lag due to laboratory congestion in Western Australia,” executive chairman Robert Martin noted.

Results from the testing for the project’s potential to produce high value silica flour, which can be used as a wellhead cement additive, is expected soon.

nova silica sand project location
Nova Silica project location map. Pic: Supplied

Nova silica sands

The Nova project is located on the Eneabba Plain about 300km north of Perth with access by the Brand Highway about 15km south of Eneabba. The project can also utilise an underutilised rail network with direct access to the Geraldton port.

Aircore drilling has indicated that the silica rich white sands are generally flat lying and extensive, which could bode well for the potential scale of the Nova project considering the very large land holding.

This is all timely given the growing demand for silica sand in Asia, particularly for higher purity sands that are used in the foundry and glass industries.

This article was developed in collaboration with Suvo Strategic Minerals, 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.