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What is vanadium?
Vanadium is a soft, silvery gray (in elemental form) mineral that is classified as a ductile transition metal.  It has a wide range of oxidation states, which produce varied colors in different vanadium compounds, most notably green and purple, as in Rocky Mountain's brand marque.
Vanadium is produced as a by-product of steel smelter slag and is also mined in two different kinds of mineral deposits: disseminated in carbon rich deposits and shales (as with Rocky Mountain's Gibellini project), and in magnetite (iron oxide) deposits alongside titanium.

Location and geology
The Gibellini property is located in Eureka County, Nevada, about 27.5 miles south of the town of Eureka. The property is situated on the east flank of the Fish Creek Range in the Fish Creek Mining District and is easily accessed by dirt road extending westward from US Highway 50. The property is approximately 3,397 acres (1,374 hectares)  and contains the Vanadium Hill and Rich Hill deposits.
The Gibellini vanadium deposits occur within an allocthonous fault wedge of organic-rich siliceous mudstone, siltstone, and chert, which forms a northwest trending prominent ridge. These rocks are described by Noranda as thin bedded shales, very fissile and highly folded, distorted and fractured (Condon, 1975). In general, the beds strike north-northwest and dip from 15 to 50° to the west. Outcrops of the shale are scarce except for along road cuts and trenches. The black shale unit which hosts the vanadium resource is from 175 to over 300 feet thick and overlies gray mudstone. The shale has been oxidized to various hues of yellow and orange up to a depth of 100 feet.

Mineralization and deposit type
In the oxidized zone, complex vanadium oxides occur in fractures in the sedimentary rocks including metahewettite (CaV6 O16 —H2O), bokite (KAl3 Fe6 V26 O76 —30H2O), schoderite, and metaschoderite (Al (PO4) (VO4)—6-8H2O). In the unoxidized sediments, vanadium occurs in organic material (kerogen) made up of fine grained, flaky, and stringy organism fragments less than 15 microns in size.
Other workers found vanadium mineralization to occur within manganese modules (psilomene family) in the shale.  XRD mineralogy work by SGS Lakefield Research in Ontario, Canada reported the occurrence of the vanadium mineral fernandinite (CaV8 O20 -– H2O).  Other minerals reported to occur at Gibellini are marcasite, sphalerite, pyrite, and molybdenite.

The top 100 to 120 feet of the Gibellini vanadium deposit is oxidized, producing various orange, pink, and purple vanadium oxide minerals.  Vandadium grades in the oxide zone are generally higher than in the unoxidized zone but lower than in the transition zone. Below the oxidized zone is the transition zone (mixed oxidized and unoxidized rocks), which typically contains the highest grades in the deposit.  An unoxidized zone underlies the transition zone and typically is lower in vanadium grade than the oxide and

Development progress
A scoping study initiated by AMEC in May of 2008 at the request of Rocky Mountain Resources was completed in October of 2008. Results of the study have been used to guide project development and define the scope of the feasibility study. Complete results of the study can be viewed in PDF format by clicking here.

Dawson Metallurgical Laboratories performed testing on samples from the Gibilleni deposit to support the scoping study. Column leach tests, performed to simulate heap leaching results, indicated vanadium recovery of 60% for oxide, 70% for transition, and 52% for sulfide.
For purposes of the scoping study AMEC utilized a price regression model to predict the price of vanadium pentoxide. This model included a projected long term price for vanadium pentoxide of $5.90 per pound.  Strong price increases for vanadium in the future demonstrate the potential price upside.

To view the NI 43-101 Technical Report as prepared by AMEC E&C Services and dated October 8, 2008, click here to open in PDF format.

      
Further information
To view the Scoping Study as prepared by AMEC E&C Services and dated October 2, 2008, click here to open in PDF format.

Next Steps

Prefeasibility and permitting
The scoping study results demonstrate the potential viability of the Gibellini project to be not only a primary producer but also the sole domestic producer of vanadium in North America.  A numb er of programs are underway to collect data and information in preparation for the feasibility study scheduled to begin in late 2010.  Ongoing programs include field studies for an environmental assessment, a bulk sampling program and a metallurgical/geotechnical diamond drill program.
 
Environmental Assessment
Enviroscientists, Inc. of Reno, Nevada will be working to obtain various permits required for the development and operation of the Gibellini Vanadium Project. Rocky Mountain will prepare an Environmental Assessment to satisfy the BLM requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.  Enviroscientists have begun biological, cultural, spring/riparian, ground water characterization and waste rock and ore characterization. These studies are scheduled to continue until fall, 2010.
 
Bulk sampling and drilling programs
The bulk sampling program will comprise the collection of oxide, transition and non-oxide layers from four different trenches on the project, while the diamond drill program will be two-phased. The first phase is to obtain samples from 500 feet of core from each material layer type across six holes for a comprehensive metallurgical testing program. The second phase is to obtain geotechnical data that will provide information for design of the open pit, waste dump and access road designs.
 
Metallurgical testing program
These samples from the trenching and drilling programs will be used in a metallurgical testing program that will build on historical metallurgical data and the AMEC Scoping Study to optimize the leaching process. This program will optimize sulfuric acid leach recovery/consumption, develop a custom bottle roll procedure and further improve recovery of vanadium extraction at Gibellini. Column tests will be done to test composite samples taken from the new trenches. The metallurgical program will further verify ore body data and optimize the vanadium pentoxide production process which will directly support the feasibility study.