Vanadium Resources Locks in U.S. Offtake Deal for Steelpoortdrift Slag

VR8 Locks In U.S. Offtake Partner for Vanadium Slag, Cementing Its Role in Western Critical Mineral Supply Chains

Vanadium Resources Limited (ASX: VR8, DAX: TR3) has executed a non-binding offtake term sheet with U.S. Vanadium Holding Company LLC (USV) for 100% of the vanadium-bearing slag to be produced from its proposed next-generation V-Iron Plant, tied to the world-class Steelpoortdrift Vanadium Project in South Africa's Bushveld Complex. The Vanadium Resources offtake deal with U.S. Vanadium for Steelpoortdrift vanadium slag marks a significant commercial milestone, opening a direct pathway into U.S. defence, aerospace, and industrial vanadium supply chains at a time when Western nations are actively seeking to reduce their dependence on Chinese and Russian supply.

Key highlights from the announcement include 100% of vanadium slag production from the proposed V-Iron Plant to be directed to USV under the term sheet, whilst USV's Arkansas refinery has confirmed via recent metallurgical testing that high-grade slags from South African VTM ores are well-suited to its processing flowsheet. Steelpoortdrift hosts 4.74Mt of contained V₂O₅, making it one of the largest vanadium deposits outside China and Russia.

The project already holds key permits and is underpinned by a 2022 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) delivering an A$1.9 billion NPV. VR8 is pursuing a co-production strategy producing both pig iron and vanadium slag to diversify revenue and reduce exposure to vanadium price volatility. Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has been appointed as exclusive financial adviser and capital sourcing agent, whilst VR8 is in active discussions to acquire brownfield pyrometallurgical sites with existing infrastructure to reduce capital requirements and accelerate timelines.

"Our engagement with a U.S. offtaker opens the door for VR8 to transform our fully permitted, tier-1, multi-generational Steelpoortdrift Project from a world-class resource into a cornerstone critical mineral supplier of vanadium to Western markets," said Executive Chairman Jurie Wessels.

"The USV term sheet represents a significant step forward in the commercialisation of Steelpoortdrift as the Western world's leading vanadium deposit and reflects the depth of technical and strategic work completed by the Company to date," added CEO Nick Diack.

Who Is U.S. Vanadium, and Why Does This Partnership Matter?

USV is not a peripheral player — it is the only integrated producer of high-purity vanadium specialty chemicals in the United States, operating a refinery in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Its product suite includes ultra-high-purity vanadium oxide (commanding a significant price premium), vanadium redox flow battery electrolyte, ferrovanadium, vanadium chemicals, vanadium oxides, and nitride vanadium.

USV is a majority-owned portfolio company of TechMet Ltd, a specialist critical minerals investment firm with a strategic focus on metals essential to the Western energy transition and defence industrial base.

Critically, USV's Arkansas refinery historically processed high-grade vanadium-bearing slags from South Africa's Highveld Steel and Vanadium operations — creating an established supply connection into U.S. aerospace and steel markets. Following the loss of that historic slag supply, USV adapted to process alternative feedstocks.

The recent metallurgical test work now confirms that South African Bushveld Complex slags are an ideal feedstock match for USV's existing refinery flowsheet. Furthermore, USV is seeking to double its vanadium output, and securing consistent, high-grade slag feedstock from Steelpoortdrift is positioned as a key enabler of that expansion.

Understanding the Co-Production Advantage

One of the most important strategic pivots embedded in this announcement is VR8's shift from a primary vanadium production model to a co-production model. This distinction matters significantly to investors and is worth understanding clearly.

How Does Co-Production Work?

More than 70% of vanadium produced globally is extracted via co-production — as a by-product of iron smelting, rather than through dedicated vanadium-only processing. In VR8's proposed process:

1. Vanadium-titanium-magnetite (VTM) ore from Steelpoortdrift is smelted to produce vanadium-bearing molten pig iron
2. Oxygen is blown into the molten iron, causing vanadium to oxidise and float to the surface as vanadium slag
3. The slag — containing elevated grades of V₂O₅ — is skimmed off and sold to USV, while the remaining pig iron is sold to domestic or international steel markets
4. Titanium-rich slag is stockpiled as a potential future revenue stream

This approach monetises the full mineral suite within the ore, rather than treating iron and titanium as waste. The table below summarises the key commercial differences:

Vanadium prices are historically volatile, and this volatility has impacted the solvency and liquidity of several Western vanadium companies over the past five years. A co-production model anchors part of VR8's revenue to iron markets — linked to global infrastructure and construction activity — providing a more stable long-term earnings base.

The Offtake Term Sheet: Key Commercial Terms

The term sheet, while non-binding at this stage, sets out the framework for what is intended to become a binding long-term offtake agreement following completion of the V-Iron Plant feasibility study.

The term sheet's structure is consistent with standard industry practice for pre-feasibility offtake arrangements. The right-to-match provision protects USV's interest in a portion of production even in a scenario where a full binding agreement is not concluded — providing a degree of commercial continuity for both parties.

Steelpoortdrift: The Resource Underpinning the Opportunity

The Steelpoortdrift Project sits within South Africa's Bushveld Complex — one of the most mineralogically significant geological formations on Earth, and the primary reason South Africa is strategically important in the global vanadium supply picture.

Mineral Resource Estimate (as at 30 April 2022)

Ore Reserve (as at 30 September 2022)

The 2022 DFS remains directly applicable to the co-production strategy. The concentrator plant — fully designed and costed at DFS level — will produce a high-grade concentrate targeted at 2.08–2.16% V₂O₅ and 55% Fe, the ideal feedstock for the V-Iron smelting process. No material resource or reserve studies need to be redone, and the DFS concentrator work requires updating rather than being started from scratch — a meaningful saving in time and cost.

Why Vanadium Is a Metal Investors Need to Understand

Vanadium is designated a U.S. critical mineral, defined under the Energy Act of 2020 as essential to U.S. economic or national security, with a supply chain vulnerable to disruption and no readily available substitutes for many of its applications.

The supply concentration risk is stark: more than 93.6% of global vanadium production comes from resources in Russia and China. The United States and Europe are significant consumers but have effectively no domestic primary vanadium production from in-jurisdiction resources.

What Is Vanadium?

Vanadium is a hard, silvery-grey metallic element that becomes incredibly strong when combined with other metals. Think of it as a "strengthener" that makes steel much tougher whilst keeping it lightweight. This unique property makes it essential for applications where strength and durability are critical.

Defence and Aerospace

• Jet engine turbines — withstands extreme temperatures
• Aircraft airframes — high strength-to-weight ratio improves fuel efficiency and structural integrity
• Armour plating for vehicles and missile casings — exceptional toughness and shock resistance

Steel and Construction

• Approximately 90% of all vanadium produced is used in the steel industry
• Adding less than 0.1% vanadium can double the strength of steel while reducing material weight
• Standard in earthquake-resistant construction, skyscrapers, bridges, and transcontinental pipelines

Chemical and Industrial

• V₂O₅ is the primary catalyst in the Contact Process for producing sulphuric acid — the world's most widely used industrial chemical
• Essential for fertiliser, detergent, and battery manufacturing

For Western governments and corporations seeking to rebuild supply chain resilience, identifying non-Chinese, non-Russian vanadium sources is a genuine strategic priority. Steelpoortdrift's scale and grade make it an obvious candidate.

Defined Roadmap: What Comes Next?

VR8 has outlined a clear series of workstreams required to advance Steelpoortdrift toward production under the revised V-Iron co-production strategy. The Vanadium Resources offtake deal with U.S. Vanadium for Steelpoortdrift vanadium slag provides the commercial foundation for these development activities:

1. Scoping and Feasibility Study — Incorporating USV's metallurgical test work results. Trade-off studies will determine the optimal concentrate reduction technology (rotary kiln vs. fluidised bed). The well-understood process flowsheet is expected to support shorter-than-normal study timelines.
2. Brownfield Site Securement — VR8 is in active discussions to acquire a site with existing electrical, logistics, and utility infrastructure, with the aim of materially reducing both capital requirements and time to first production.
3. Project Financing — RMB has been appointed as exclusive financial adviser. VR8 intends to seek funding from U.S. strategic investors, senior debt, equity, grants, guarantees, and political risk insurance mechanisms aligned with U.S. national security objectives.
4. Pyrometallurgical Expertise — Appointment of in-house technical specialists to oversee V-Iron Plant development and operational integration.
5. Pig Iron Offtake — Active pursuit of offtake arrangements for pig iron with new South African steel producers or international markets.
6. Energy Strategy — Integration of Eskom long-term supply agreements with established solar power capacity to provide a low-carbon, sustainable energy solution.
7. Logistics Solutions — Development of comprehensive logistics for efficient transport of concentrate, pig iron, and slag to end markets.

The Investment Case: Why VR8 Deserves Attention

The USV term sheet is not simply a commercial milestone in isolation — it is the visible output of a strategic repositioning that makes VR8's investment case materially more compelling across several dimensions. The Vanadium Resources offtake deal with U.S. Vanadium for Steelpoortdrift vanadium slag addresses genuine market needs whilst positioning the company strategically.

First-Mover Positioning in Western Vanadium Supply

With over 93% of global vanadium supply locked in Russia and China, a large-scale, fully permitted, JORC-compliant vanadium project in a stable South African jurisdiction — with a direct offtake pathway into the U.S. market — addresses a genuine and growing supply gap.

A Proven, De-Risked Process Route

Co-production of pig iron and vanadium slag is not experimental. It is the dominant global vanadium production method and has been successfully operated at Highveld Steel (South Africa), Chengde and Panzhihua (China), and Kachkanar (Russia) for decades. VR8 is, therefore, adopting a well-understood metallurgical pathway with established benchmarks.

Technical Validation from the Intended Offtaker

USV conducted its own metallurgical test work and confirmed South African Bushveld-derived slags perform well in its Arkansas refinery. This is independent, third-party validation of the core commercial thesis — not a theoretical assumption.

DFS Foundation Reduces Study Risk and Timeline

The 2022 DFS — delivering an A$1.9 billion NPV — remains substantially applicable, meaning the upcoming feasibility work is an update and optimisation exercise rather than a ground-up study. This meaningfully compresses the timeline to a Final Investment Decision.

Dual-Commodity Revenue Model

Revenues from pig iron and vanadium slag — with potential future titanium contribution — provide a more resilient earnings profile than a single-commodity vanadium model. This diversification is directly relevant to investor risk assessment.

"Vanadium Resources Limited has positioned itself as one of the most strategically relevant vanadium developers outside of China and Russia. With a binding offtake pathway into the United States, a world-class JORC resource, a proven co-production process route, and a clear set of near-term workstreams, VR8 is transitioning from exploration-stage asset holder to a credible supplier to Western critical mineral supply chains. Investors focused on critical minerals, resource nationalism, and Western supply chain security should be watching VR8's next set of milestones closely."

The announcement represents a significant commercial validation of VR8's strategic shift toward co-production. The Vanadium Resources offtake deal with U.S. Vanadium for Steelpoortdrift vanadium slag provides not just market access, but confirmation that the company's technical approach aligns with established U.S. processing capabilities. For a sector where supply chain security has become a national priority, VR8's positioning as a Western-aligned supplier to defence and aerospace markets carries strategic value beyond traditional project economics.

Glossary of Key Terms

V₂O₅ (Vanadium Pentoxide): The primary oxidised form of vanadium, used as the benchmark measure of vanadium grade and as a direct industrial input for chemicals, catalysts, and battery electrolytes.

VTM Ore (Vanadium-Titanium-Magnetite): A magnetite ore containing elevated concentrations of vanadium and titanium — the primary ore type at Steelpoortdrift and at major global vanadium operations.

Co-Production: The simultaneous production of two or more saleable commodities from a single ore feed — in VR8's case, pig iron and vanadium slag from VTM ore, with titanium slag as a potential future revenue stream.

Want to Catch the Next Major Critical Mineral Discovery Before the Market Does?

Discovery Alert's proprietary Discovery IQ model delivers real-time alerts on significant ASX mineral discoveries across vanadium, critical minerals, and more than 30 other commodities — instantly translating complex data into actionable investment insights. Explore why historic mineral discoveries have generated substantial returns and begin your 14-day free trial at Discovery Alert to position yourself ahead of the market.