GeoMegA subsidiary Innord Separates Nd and Dy with 95% Purity in addition to 99.8% Purity Cobalt from Industrial Residue
2018年11月28日 - 12:44AM
InvestorsHub NewsWire
GeoMegA subsidiary Innord Separates Nd and Dy
with 95% Purity in addition to 99.8% Purity Cobalt from Industrial
Residue
Montreal, QC -- September 19,
2017 -- InvestorsHub NewsWire
HIGHLIGHTS:
- An industrial residue was processed to produce a high purity REE
concentrate (99% TREO) and 99.8% cobalt
hydroxide
- Nd and Dy oxides separated with purity of up to 95% REE and
recovery of up to 90% in a single run prior to recirculation and
reprocessing
- REE concentration per unit volume 1,250 times higher than that
in 2016
- Total capacity of prototypes approximately 1 kg of REO per
run
Geomega Resources
Inc. ("GéoMégA" or the
"Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:GMA) is pleased to
announce that Innord Inc. ("Innord"), a private subsidiary controlled by
GéoMégA, successfully processed an industrial residue and produced
a high purity rare earth elements concentrate
("REE"), a high purity
cobalt product and is advancing separation of Neodymium and
Dysprosium using its proprietary technology based on
electrophoresis which has reached to date 95% purity for each
oxide.
The industrial
residue that has been successfully processed, has been identified
to date in North America, Europe and Asia and is running on
average, depending on the source, at grades between 40% and 50%
TREO and between 1% and 2% cobalt. The residues typically contain
up to 4 different REE, the main ones being Neodymium (Nd) and
Dysprosium (Dy), which are critical in the production of permanent
magnets. The Corporation is continuing to search for additional
sources of this industrial residue and other residues for continued
testing of its technology.
The REE concentrate
produced achieved high purities of 99% TREO. Cobalt by-product was
isolated in the form of cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)2) with
a purity of 99.8%, typical market grade cobalt material. The
Corporation will be contacting several end-users to validate
whether the cobalt by-product could be qualified as battery grade
purity.
Separation of Nd and
Dy oxides from the REE concentrate and scale up of the technology
has been just as successful. Currently, the grade achieved for each
oxide is in the 95% range with a single run recovery of up to 90%.
Work is ongoing to reach 99% purity and ultimately the Corporation
hopes to achieve commercial grades in the near future. If
commercial grades are achieved, samples will be submitted for
validation with end users that the Corporation has been in
discussions with. In terms of scale up, the progress relative to
the June 21, 2016 press release has been exponential. The process
has been significantly simplified, which management believes will
allow for a more cost-effective scaling to pilot size in the
future. The concentration of REE per unit volume increased
significantly and is now at least 1,250 times higher than that
reported in 2016 which may result in further reduction in costs and
footprint. All these process modifications resulted in the
total capacity of the prototypes reaching approximately 1kg of REO
per run.
The process has been
tested on commercial mine concentrate containing all the 14
elements (the same concentrate that was used for tests in spring of
2014) for the purpose of initial group separation. Initial trials
have been successful and further tests will be conducted to produce
high purity individual oxides.
The following table
presents the comparison and the progress from 2014 to
2017:
|
Winter
2014 |
Summer
2016 |
Fall
2017 |
Number of separation
units |
1 in
Germany |
3,
in-house |
3,
in-house |
Total Capacity of prototypes,
gREO/run |
<
1 |
almost equal
to 10 |
almost equal
to 1,000 |
Approx. Cost of the prototypes
($) |
150,000 |
15,000 |
15,000 |
Type of sample
separated |
Synthetic |
Synthetic |
Industrial Residue* |
Purity (%, in solution) of separated
REE |
94 to
98 |
85 to
90 |
85 to
95 |
Single run recovery
(%)** |
70 to
90 |
40 to
55 |
60 to
90 |
* |
Due to
higher capacity, synthetic samples may become expensive and are
less representative |
** |
No
recirculation of the output has been considered in this
information. Please note that the data has been provided for the
sake of comparison only and does not reflect the recovery or the
purity limit of the technology. The recirculation and reprocessing
of the unreacted material is an important part of many chemical
processes to maintain high recovery rates and will be used here, if
needed, to increase recovery and purity. |
"Industrial residues
are the ideal feed for developing, calibrating and optimizing our
proprietary technology and to prepare it for the mining industry
all the while potentially producing cash flow for the company and
helping recycle valuable natural resources which are going today to
waste piles. Our technology addresses all the environmental
concerns that rare earths separation entails today - flexible that
it can process various rare earth feeds, sustainable and most
importantly no organic solvents used. Having found rare earth
residues that contained an interesting quantity of cobalt was an
unexpected yet very welcome bonus. Cobalt is a highly sought after
element today with high demand for lithium ion batteries which are
used together with permanent-magnet AC (PMAC) motors in electric
vehicles. Establishing a market presence through a product range of
Nd, Dy and Co from industrial residues is a perfect fit for the
Montviel project which will be primarily focused on the Nd market
as well.
Two years ago, we
knew what the main challenges were and we tackled them one by one.
The high concentration conditions that we operate in today give us
an enormous flexibility for scale up. We used off the shelf
equipment that we adapted to our process and as a result we have
what we believe to be an easily scalable technology that we will be
demonstrating one module at a time. Our next objective is to reach
99% grade for Nd and Dy oxides from this residue and then move on
to separation from other residues that are enriched in other REE
including neighbor elements. All this data will be then used to
complete an engineering study for the initial industrial / pilot
unit which will provide reliable capital and operating cost
estimates." commented Kiril Mugerman, President and CEO of GéoMégA
and Innord.
All the sample
analyses have been performed internally by Innord Inc. using
ICP-OES.
All the experiments
and the technology development have been conducted and supervised
by Dr. Pouya Hajiani, CTO of Geomega and he approves the technical
information in this press release.
About GéoMégA (www.geomega.ca)
GéoMégA is a mineral
exploration and evaluation company focused on the discovery and
sustainable development of economic deposits of metals in Québec.
GéoMégA is committed to meeting the Canadian mining industry
standards and distinguishing itself with innovative engineering,
stakeholders' engagement and dedication to local transformation
benefits.
78,258,049 common shares
of GéoMégA are currently issued and
outstanding.
About Innord
Inc.
Innord is a private
subsidiary of GéoMégA of which GéoMégA owns 96.1%. The goal of
Innord Inc. is to develop and optimize the proprietary separation
process of rare earth elements based on electrophoresis, for which
it holds all the rights. Electrophoresis is the migration of
charged species (ions, proteins, particles) in solution in the
presence of an electric field. Innord has filed patents in Canada
and the United States to protect its novel separation process and
is looking to file in other jurisdictions.
Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
This news release contains statements that may constitute
"forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation.
Forward-looking information and statements may include, among
others, statements regarding future plans, costs, objectives or
performance of the Corporation, or the assumptions underlying any
of the foregoing. In this news release, words such as "may",
"would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect",
"anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" "target" and similar
words and the negative form thereof are used to identify
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not
be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will
not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at
or by which, such future performance will be achieved. No assurance
can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking
information will transpire or occur, including additional closings
of the private placement referred to above, or if any of them do
so, what benefits the Corporation will derive. Forward-looking
statements and information are based on information available at
the time and/or management's good-faith belief with respect to
future events and are subject to known or unknown risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of
which are beyond the Corporation's control. These risks,
uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to,
those described under "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's annual
management's discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended May
31, 2017, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com; they could
cause actual events or results to differ materially from those
projected in any forward-looking statements. The Corporation does
not intend, nor does the Corporation undertake any obligation, to
update or revise any forward-looking information or statements
contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information,
events or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by
applicable laws.
Kiril Mugerman
President and CEO
GeoMegA
450-641-5119 ext.5653
kmugerman@geomega.ca
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