A metallurgical drilling program is underway at VRX Silica’s (ASX: VRX) Muchea silica sand project just north of Perth in Western Australia to determine if a very-high purity product can be produced.

The company will use a tractor-mounted vacuum rig that will drill at least 100 holes to generate a 5-tonne sample.

It is expected the program will take three days to complete and the sample will be used in an additional pilot plant metallurgical test work program.

The test work aims to determine if selective mining and processing of the differentiated ore layers can produce a higher-purity silica sand product, which could “significantly enhance” the project’s economics.

Strong interest in high-quality silica sand

VRX managing director Bruce Maluish said as well as enhancing the project’s already robust financial metrics, the program will provide further bulk samples to advance discussions with interested offtake parties.

“The production of ultra-clear glass for the solar panel industry is experiencing phenomenal growth and, with it, demand for high-quality silica sand is soaring.”

Mr Maluish said the company was receiving “strong inbound interest” in the Muchea’s silica sand.

“The company is in active discussions with potential offtake partners who release that Muchea is one of only a handful ultra-high purity silica sand projects suited for the manufacture of ultra-clear flat glass.”

Muchea silica sand project

A 57-hole drilling program was completed at Muchea in 2019.

This led to an updated mineral resource of 208 million tonnes of silica sand and a maiden probable ore reserve of 18.7Mt silica sand.

Analysis of the resource indicated that ore within 5m of surface was “consistently lower in contaminants” than the deeper material.

Test work on the full column of ore generated a “very high-grade silica sand product”.

However, this current drill program will evaluate any silica sand purity variation in the separate layers.

VRX expects the near-surface lower contaminant ore may generate a higher-value product.

Muchea is located 50km north of Perth. It comprises two exploration licences and one under application. It also has one granted mining lease with another pending.