# Balasausqandiq sets out a disciplined development case

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/balasausqandiq-sets-out-a-disciplined-development-case/4121247487
- Published: 2026-03-31T16:08:00+01:00
- Author: Amilia Stone

Ferro-Alloy Resources is presenting Balasausqandiq as a large vanadium project with
clear scale, but the more important point for investors is the way it plans to develop
it. The deposit, in southern Kazakhstan, contains vanadium together with by-products
including molybdenum, uranium and carbon.

The current mineral resource estimate covers only the first of seven known ore bodies
within the mining licence area and amounts to about 33 million tonnes of ore. Even
on that basis, the company says the project could ultimately support a much larger
operation, treating up to 10 million tonnes of ore a year and producing around 55,000
tonnes of vanadium pentoxide a year. That long-term scale provides the strategic
backdrop, but management is not proposing to build to that level immediately.

Instead, the company plans a two-phase development. Phase 1 is set at 1.65 million
tonnes of ore a year, with Phase 2 increasing this to 5 million tonnes a year.

The company also argues that Balasausqandiq stands apart from many other vanadium
projects because it is not based on vanadiferous titano-magnetite and can use a 
processing method that is lower in both capital and operating cost. That claim is
central to the investment case. If the project can be developed on that basis, it
may offer better resilience through the cycle and a more practical route to expansion.
Just as importantly, the company says the slower development plan could be revised
if demand rises materially, including from vanadium redox flow batteries.

Carbon is the most significant by-product opportunity described on the project page.
It makes up more than 8% of the ore and is said to be similar in form to carbon 
black. The company states that, after recovery of vanadium and other metals, a 40%
carbon concentrate can be produced by flotation.

_**Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd **([LON:FAR](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/company/ferro-alloy-resources/far.l))
is developing the giant Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Kyzylordinskaya oblast
of southern Kazakhstan. The ore at this deposit is unlike that of nearly all other
primary vanadium deposits and is capable of being treated by a much lower cost process._

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