- Geomega has provided an update on its rare earth recycling demonstration plant
- Detailed engineering by both external and in-house engineers is progressing well
- With technology selection now complete, the corporation will order the equipment as soon as the engineering work is finalized
- An internal study has demonstrated the low greenhouse gasses (GHG) impact in comparison to conventional mining
- Geomega is now applying its iron friendly processing technology on streams that could provide raw materials to other key industries
- Geomega Resources Inc. (GMA) is up 9.43 per cent and is trading at C$0.29 at 11:46 am ET
Geomega Resources Inc. (GMA) has provided an update on the construction of the rare earth recycling demonstration plant.
Detailed engineering by both external and in-house engineers is progressing well.
Since the completion of the pilot test work in January 2021, the engineers have been reviewing the results in order to complete and/or update process computational models, stream tables, process flow diagrams, heat and mass balance, process design criteria and much more.
Initial quotes for the plant equipment have been received and are being updated regularly based on any required changes, such as equipment sizing.
With technology selection now complete, the corporation will order the equipment as soon as the engineering work and equipment design review are completed. Procurement is now expected to take place in the fall of 2021.
The work over the last six months has demonstrated that the technology can be scaled up to the demonstration plant. In addition, during regular operation of the plant, it will not be producing liquid effluent and will be able to produce boron and a cobalt compound as by-products.
Finally, an internal study has demonstrated the low greenhouse gasses (GHG) impact in comparison to conventional mining.
The objective of this work is to ensure that the technology can treat the multitude of chemistries and sources that will need to be processed as the demonstration plant capacity is ramped up from 1.5 to 4.5 tonnes per day.
The corporation has been working on four different magnet residue samples (swarf) provided by some of the largest magnet manufacturers in Japan and western manufacturers operating in China.
With swarf representing one of the largest potential supply streams in the future, testing the various streams was important to evaluate the recoveries and economics.
Each manufacturer’s stream has its own peculiarities and the corporation proposed and tested a pre-treatment method where needed. The engineering team’s conclusion is that it appears that the rare earth recycling technology is very robust and will be able to treat the various aforementioned streams.
With the technical team tripling in size over the last 18 months, part of the team is dedicated to the demonstration plant work while the rest of the team is working in parallel to leverage the gained expertise and apply it to other potential feeds along with the Montviel rare earths project.
The corporation is now applying its iron-friendly processing technology on streams that could provide raw materials to other key industries that require critical metals, such as the Li-ion batteries, in a more sustainable way.
The ability of the corporation to recycle its main reagents is a key component in potentially offering an environmentally friendly solution to the mining industry.
“Being fully funded for construction, we are focused on reaching production from the demonstration plant which will serve as the backbone of our technology as we gradually try to apply it to Montviel, bauxite residues and other materials,” commented Kiril Mugerman, President and CEO of Geomega.
Geomega develops innovative technologies for the extraction and separation of rare earth elements and other critical metals essential for a sustainable future.
With a focus on renewable energies, vehicle electrification, automation and reduction in energy usage, rare earth magnets or neo-magnets (NdFeB) are at the center of all these technologies.
Geomega Resources Inc. (GMA) is up 9.43 per cent and is trading at C$0.29 at 11:46 am ET.
