Victory Metals Inc. [VMX-TSXV; VKMTF-OTC] on Thursday April 2 released another batch of drilling results from its Iron Point Vanadium Project near Winnemucca, Nevada and now says it will move ahead with a resource calculation.
The company said the latest results are from the third and final set of drill holes from a 10,532-metre (52-hole) phase two program. It featured 27 holes that targeted the southern portion of the Iron Point mineralized vanadium zone.
These vertical and angle holes were designed to better define the outer limits of mineralization and add definition to areas within last year’s Phase 1 drill program where low hole density and/or insufficient depth penetration hindered accurate correlation of mineralized zones.
Highlights include 30.0 metres, grading 0.42% V2O5 (including 4.9 metres grading 0.64% V2O5) in drill hole VM-106, and 61.0 metres grading 0.47% V2O5 (including 10.7 metres grading 0.90% V2O5) in VM-1C.
Victory owns 100% interest in the Iron Point Project and said it is well funded to advance the property towards resource estimation and a preliminary economic assessment. Iron Point is located about 30 km from the town of Winnemucca. A high voltage transmission line runs through the property. A railway line also runs across the northern boundary.
Vanadium is listed as a strategic metal in the U.S. It is used in the steel industry as a strengthening agent, creating a lightweight, high temperature alloy. Vanadium is also a battery metal. Vanadium Redox Batteries are being adopted at a rapid rate in China to support clean, baseload power from renewable resources.
“Phase 11 drilling returned surprisingly high-grade results in the southern portion of our vanadium rich target area,” said Victory Executive Chairman Paul Matysek. “Most notable is a shallow and relatively uniform zone of vanadium mineralization that is a prime candidate for our initial development focus,” he said.
“Furthermore, the increased drill density in the southern portion of the deposit has revealed larger and higher-grade zones of vanadium mineralization that were previously identified from Phase 1 drilling.”
In summary, the company said the Phase 11 drill program sought to close-off the lateral and vertical extent of mineralization. It instead confirmed that the deposit remains open in most directions and to depth. Victory Metals is now moving ahead with a resource calculation.
The latest results come after Palisades Goldcorp Ltd., a private Vancouver company, recently took a 48% stake in Victory Metals by acquiring, by way of a private agreement, 43.8 million common shares of the junior in return for approximately 15 million shares of Palisades.
Victory Metals shares were unchanged Thursday at 21 cents, a 52-week low. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 76 cents and 18 cents.
Back in February, 2019, Victory said it was pleased with results of a maiden drilling program featuring holes that were chosen to confirm the vanadium mineralization and grades reported in historical holes drilled by Newmont Goldcorp Corp. [NGT-TSX; NEM-NYSE] in 1966 and Aur Resources between 1996 and 1997.
Newmont and Aur Resources were both drilling for gold, but intersected significant vanadium intervals at shallow depths.