The company said in a statement to the ASX that it had completed a scoping study for the Black Swan plant and mine plan near Kalgoorlie in the goldfields region of Western Australia.

Project looking good

The scoping study found that the project was an "attractive gold development opportunity with low capital intensity, utilising existing mining and Black Swan processing infrastructure''.

The project was expected to have an initial mine life of five years, producing an average of about 102,000 ounces of gold per year.

First gold was expected in mid-2027, with the mine processing about 2.2 million tonnes of ore per year.

The company said the mine plan contained 74% of its gold in the high-confidence measured and indicated status, with the remainder in the lower confidence inferred status.

The gold contained at the nearby Burbanks underground prospect was also not yet included in the mine plan, the company said.

The mine would cost $160.5 million to build, "including estimated plant refurbishment and conversion costs of $101.0 million, site establishment and infrastructure refurbishment costs of A$45.6 million and mine development costs of $13.8 million''.

The project was expected to have an all-in sustaining cost of about $3353 per ounce of gold, and a payback period of 18 months.

Horizon also said management believed there was potential upside from ongoing exploration drilling and the potential to "debottleneck" processing plans to boost ore throughput.

Horizon Managing Director Grant Haywood said the results were pleasing.

The study outcomes demonstrate the quality of our assets and show a robust economic case to support our vision of becoming a meaningful, independent WA gold producer. It's the culmination of building our strong gold portfolio with some key strategic acquisitions over the last 18 months, with the hard work and dedication of our talented team delivering an outstanding result. Our initial plans of achieving a throughput of 1.5Mtpa through the Black Swan processing facility with a minimum 5 year life of mine plan have well and truly been met with the plant study having now being upscaled to its nameplate capacity of 2.2Mtpa, whilst remaining at a 5 year mine life and achieving our aspirational target of production of 100,000 ounces per annum.

New funding on the cards

The company's capital raise, also announced on Tuesday, aims to raise $175 million by issuing new shares at $1.08 apiece, compared with the last trading price of $1.23.

Existing Horizon shareholders will be able to subscribe for a share of an extra $10 million at the same price.

Horizon Gold was valued at $253.8 million at the close of trade on Monday.

The post Why is this gold company raising a whopping $175 million? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

We only need to look at lithium shares like AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ), up 260% in the past six months, to see this in action. But lithium is only one green metal. There are many more that investors are also excited about for their role in our potential future. Vanadium is one of those.

Vanadium is an element (23 on the periodic table, with the symbol 'V') that is hard and grey in colour. According to Geoscience Australia, it is a soft and ductile metal, which makes it useful in producing iron alloys like high-strength steel. But it is also increasingly being seen as a potentially key ingredient in the next generation of rechargeable batteries. Particularly those known as 'redox flow batteries'.

Industry analyst Professor Rick Velenta told a recent report from the ABC that redox flow batteries "can last for over 20 years, they don't degrade over time, and they don't catch on fire, which is a major problem for other large-scale batteries". 

He said that "only about 2 per cent of vanadium produced around the world is used for redox flow batteries… but they're such appealing batteries, demand will increase".

That sounds like good news for Australia, which has the third-largest deposits of the metal in the world, behind China and Russia.

And this is presumably what has piqued many investors' interests in this green metal. 

So which ASX shares are involved in vanadium production?

Is vanadium miner Multicom Resources listed on the ASX?

Well, one popular name is Multicom Resources. This company owns the Saint Elmo Project near Julia Creek in Queensland. Saint Elmo reportedly has an extensive vanadium resource. It has been branded by the federal government with 'Major Project Status' to reflect its potential as a significant national deposit of vanadium. 

Unfortunately, though, Multicom Resources is not an ASX share, since it remains a private, unlisted company. So most investors won't be able to buy Multicom Resources shares, at least for now. 

But the ASX does have some other names in vanadium that are available for ASX trading. One is Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT). Neometals owns the Barrambie Titanium and Vanadium Project in Western Australia. Barrambie is still in exploration phase, but Neometals has been granted a mining permit for the site. 

Neometals is also part of a joint venture with the Scandinavian company Critical Metals that is currently examining the feasibility of "constructing a recycling facility to recover and process high-grade vanadium products from vanadium-bearing steel by-product in Scandinavia".

Another name on the ASX is Horizon Minerals Ltd (ASX: HRZ). Horizon is primarily a gold miner, but also runs a joint venture with Richmond Vanadium Technology. This joint venture covers exploration of the Richmond Vanadium Project in Queensland, which the company estimates is "one of the largest undeveloped vanadium resources in the world".

So although Milticom Resources is not listed on the ASX, shares like Horizon and Neometals are. 

Vanadium is still an emerging commodity. But the excitement for its potential uses is real, so this is a space definitely worth keeping an eye on. 

The post What exactly is vanadium and which ASX shares have exposure? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This comes after the gold miner announced the completion of a deal with fellow ASX gold share Orminex Ltd (ASX: ONX). The Orminex share price, up 14% in early morning trade, is currently down 7%.

What deal did Horizon report?

The Horizon share price is soaring after the company reported the completion of its acquisition of 50% interest in Orminex's Penny's Find gold project, located in Western Australia.

Horizon first announced its intended acquisition to the ASX on 30 November. This morning the company reported it had made the $1.5 million cash payment (funded from existing reserves) to Orminex. All other necessary conditions have also been met.

Horizon stated it would fund the first $1 million for pre-development operations. Thereafter costs will be split 50:50 with its joint venture (JV) partners.

Commenting on the acquisition, Horizon's managing director Jon Price said:

Penny's Find is a quality high-grade gold project with considerable work completed enabling an accelerated pathway to production with approvals and toll milling agreement in place for the first phase of development.

We look forward to working with the Orminex team and releasing the drilling results, updated resource model and mine optimisation and design work in coming months enabling a development decision in the September Quarter 2021.

Orminex non-executive director Dean Hely added:

Execution of the Joint Venture Agreement is a great step forward in fast-tracking the necessary technical works to enable commencement of development at Penny's Find, with Orminex committed to utilising the A$1,500,000 received for future funding of this high grade, prospective underground gold mine.

Reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling have been completed "to infill a number of areas for improved JORC Classification".

Horizon expects drilling assay results in the June quarter with an updated resource, maiden reserve and development decision forecast for the September quarter.

Horizon share price snapshot

The Horizon share price is up 120% over the past 12 months. That compares to a gain of 53% on the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Year-to-date, Horizon Minerals shares are down 8%.

The post Why the Horizon (ASX:HRZ) share price rocketed 10% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.