Vanadium is used in steel strengthening but is also highly efficient in grid-scale batteries and the Richmond Julia Creek area is regarded as one of the world’s best. Several projects are at various stages of development with the Mineral Resources St Elmo project likely to be the most advanced.

The vanadium batteries are considered too heavy to be used in mobile applications like cars.

China holds about 42 per cent of the world’s reserves and about 62 per cent of production with Australia currently sitting at 18 per cent of reserves but no production.

Funds raised would be directed to a bankable feasibility study for the project which has a mineral resource of 1.8 billion tonnes. The issue price is 40 cents a share.

The company claims its pre-feasibility study showed the project was technically viable and financial attractive investment. It expects consumption for vanadium for battery use to grow at 20 per cent until 2029.

Part of its strategy is for a $5 million investment in UPS, an Australian manufacturer of vanadium batteries.

Managing director Shaun Reid said the IPO was an important step in the company’s evolution.

Bell Potter is the lead manager of the IPO.

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