Australian Vanadium Limited has appointed the engineering Primero Group to construct its vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility in Western Australia.
It will be designed to produce up to 33 MWh per year of vanadium flow battery high purity electrolyte.
It also said it appointed Simon Rough, an experienced operations professional, to safely manage construction. He will see the plant into production.
His extensive experience in vanadium processing and sulphuric acid production makes him “a perfect fit” to lead the team to successful production of high-quality electrolyte, the company said in a statement.
Rough has safely led teams in hydro and pyrometallurgical operations, vanadium processing and sulphuric acid production, AVL said.
The company holds the exclusive licence of US Vanadium’s process technology for manufacturing vanadium electrolyte for Australia and New Zealand.
It received a AU$3.69 million (US$2.39 million) federal government grant in 2021 to help build and operate a commercial vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility in Western Australia. It is part of the company’s drive to commercialise vanadium flow batteries.
It aims to produce vanadium electrolyte for commercial use in VFBs by November 2023. It is working on offtake agreements for the product.
AVL is developing its Australian Vanadium Project at Gabanintha. It claims the Australian Vanadium Project is one of the most advanced vanadium projects being developed globally, with 239 t at 0.73% vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), containing a high-grade zone of 95.6 t at 1.07% V2O5 and an ore reserve of 30.9 t at 1.09% V2O5. It comprises a proved reserve of 5 t at 1.11% V2O5 and a probable reserve of 20.4 t at 1.07% V2O5.
