Largo Resources Looks to Put Vanadium on the Map

Canadian miner Largo Resources has been quietly gearing up for production at its Maracas vanadium project in Bahia, Brazil. The company, which specializes in vanadium – a unique metal used to make steel stronger and lighter, expects the project to capture 7.5 percent of the global market within a year.

"It is one of the first vanadium mines that will be going into production in a long time," said president and CEO Mark Brennan.  The company has invested $300 million in the mine, which is located in the Maracas region.

“Of every commodity, there is one best deposit and for vanadium it is Maracas. It is the richest, highest-grade vanadium deposit in the world.”

The Maracas deposit has a proven and probable reserve of 13.1-million tons, grading 1.34 percent vanadium pentoxide, 24.6-million tons, grading 1.11 percent in the measured and indicated categories, and 30.4-million tons, grading 0.83 percent in the inferred category.

Largo Resources expects the mine to reach an output rate of 9,600 t/y of vanadium pentoxide within the next 12 months. A second phase of expansion will see output rise to 14,400 t/y within the next three years, giving the company the ability to supply 10 percent of the global demand.

"Asia will be the fastest-growing market for vanadium, led by China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia," said Brennan.

"India is producing low-quality steel, but they are the world's second largest steel producer after China. Over a period of time, we expect India's consumption of vanadium to also increase.”

While the Maracas project took nearly seven years to develop, Brennan and company expect big things in the horizon.