Australian Vanadium Limited says it has appointed Primero Group Ltd and GR Engineering Services Ltd to undertake early contractor involvement (ECI) services for the Australian Vanadium project crushing, milling and beneficiation (CMB) plant engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package.

The ECI process was endorsed as the appropriate way forward as it allows Australian Vanadium and the ECI contractors the opportunity to build key relationships by collaborating in design development, optimising risk allocation and preparation of EPC pricing, AVL says.

AVL Managing Director, Vincent Algar, said: “Appointing Primero and GR Engineering in this ECI role is a key step forward for the Project as we progress towards development and construction.
These agreements are indicative of the level of confidence we have in progressing towards execution and will be pivotal in setting the foundations of key partnerships which are essential in ensuring the success of the project.”

Both Primero and GR Engineering are industry leaders in EPC delivery and AVL sees the ECI process as a critical part of being execution ready once a final investment decision is made.

Completion of the ECI is scheduled for June quarter 2023, with the final preferred EPC contractor being notified within the same quarter.

The project is based on a vanadium-titanium-iron mineral resource in the Murchison Province, some 43 km south of Meekatharra in Western Australia and 740 km northeast of Perth.

Open-pit mining and a CMB will be located south of Meekatharra and a vanadium pentoxide processing plant will be located near the port city of Geraldton, AVL says. The project will produce a vanadium concentrate at the resource site and complete production of a high purity vanadium for the steel, titanium master-alloy and energy storage markets, as well as an iron titanium co-product for export through Geraldton, at its planned processing plant.