Technology Metals Australia Ltd. said Aug. 8 that it began work to complete a definitive feasibility study for the Gabanintha vanadium project in Western Australia, with an approximately 6,600-meter stage-one drilling program.

The program, comprised of a 2,700-meter diamond drilling program and a 3,900-meter reverse circulation drilling program, is designed to deliver geotechnical data, extend indicated resource and provide additional samples for metallurgical testwork.

A detailed pre-feasibility study for Gabanintha, which pegged a posttax net present value, discounted at 10%, of A$850 million, a 43% internal rate of return, and a 3.4-year payback period, allowed for the Australian explorer to directly advance to the definitive feasibility study phase for the project.