Tando hits mineralised unit in first two drill holes at SPD vanadium project

Special report: Tando Resources is off to a flying start at its SPD vanadium project in South Africa – hitting the target zone in the very first two holes of drilling.

This is highly significant because the mineralised unit comprises a series of magnetite layers, which is well established as the host rock for the vanadium mineralisation at SPD.

“These initial results are an excellent start in converting the high-grade ‘foreign’ resource at the SPD vanadium project to JORC status,” Tando (ASX:TNO) managing director Bill Oliver said.

JORC refers to the mining industry’s official code for reporting exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves, managed by the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee.

“These first two holes mark the ideal start to our drilling program due to their correlation with historic drilling results and we look forward to strong results continuing through the rest of the drilling program,” Mr Oliver said.

The first diamond drill hole intersected the mineralised unit between 32m and 49m downhole, and the first reverse circulation drill hole intersected the mineralised unit from surface.

The first diamond drill hole is located just 150m from a historical drill hole that delivered a magnetic concentrate grading 1.99 per cent vanadium pentoxide (V2O5).

The hole is also 170m away from another historical hole that produced a magnetic concentrate grading higher again at 2.26 per cent V2O5.

The first reverse circulation drill hole, meanwhile, lies just 150m away from two historic drill holes that delivered a magnetic concentrate grading 2.03 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.

Tando is using two drilling rigs at the site so it can explore an existing high-grade resource as well as surrounding high-grade vanadium pipes at the same time.

Drilling is focusing on converting the existing high-grade resource to JORC status as well as testing the potential of the surrounding high-grade vanadium pipes to support a direct shipping ore (DSO) operation.

DSO refers to minerals that require only simple crushing before they are exported, which keeps costs low.

Phase one of the drilling program will comprise 18 holes for 1650m at the SPD deposit, where there is already a “foreign” resource of 513 million tonnes at 0.78 per cent V2O5.

An initial JORC resource estimate is expected by the end of October.

This special report is brought to you by Tando Resources.

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