Forum Energy Metals Corp. and Golden Share Resources Corp. said they staked the Afton vanadium deposit in Wyoming, discovered in the 1940s, and struck a 50/50 partnership to explore it.

In a June 13 release, the junior explorers describe the deposit as outlined by the U.S. Geological Survey in Professional Paper 1637 and hosting historic resources of 30 million tons grading 1.1% vanadium pentoxide.

Forum Energy would operate exploration activities and Golden Share would have a right of first refusal on possible off-take from the project should it go to production.

In the report, the USGS noted "unfavorable factors" of the deposit as its location in rough terrain and its narrowness and "favorable" factors as its size and location in "topographically high areas above drainage levels."

The juniors said that they would begin sampling the deposit for metallurgical studies in June.

On news of staking Afton, Forum Energy's share price surged about 71%, while Golden Share's share price rose 8%.