Vanadium is a new economy mineral whose time had come.

That comes from junior miner QEM which is leading development on the Toolebuc formation in McKinlay Shire region of north west Queensland.

Vanadium battery technology was maturing into a store for base load power and targeted for use with renewables which are otherwise generating electricity at alternate times to peak load use.

Vanadium’s part in the renewable energy schema was now clear, said QEM managing director Gavin Loyden. 

“I think there’s an understanding now through a level of education that we’ve all undergone, that vanadium is really the solution for grid scale support,” Mr Loyden said.

“Now, with the energy transition underway here in Australia and globally, there’s going to be a huge requirement for storage capacity. 

“We’ve got a lot of generation in the system and a lot of generation coming on, renewable generation, but that all requires storage to be viable at that at scale.

“And I think that recognition is being understood now. So, I think there will be a, not a pivot, but certainly an inclusion of vanadium in that discussion going forward. And I think it’s been lacking up to this point.”

Related: QEM raises $2.2m to advance Julia Creek project

Recognition from the state government in the form of a $10million common user facility to be built in Townsville was a positive first step in process said Mr Loyden.

His company and other proponents would this year be examining options an overall increase in water and power supply to all industry in the area.

“It’s an approach that we took … where we could all get our minds together collectively and see what could be done, and what could be achieved, which helps an entire industry rather than individual projects.

“And I think the Townsville common use facility is the first example. We intend to expand on that now into water solutions for not only for individual companies but for the region as well. 

“And we’ve taken a similar approach with power development in the area. All of these pieces of infrastructure are too expensive for one company, but as a collective, we can contribute to the development of study phases and things like that, see if there’s viability.”