Medallion Resources Ltd (CVE:MDL) (OTCMKTS:MLLOF) reported further progress on its plans to produce rare-earth magnet metals by processing monazite, saying final testwork had been carried out on its extraction process.
In a statement Tuesday, the Vancouver based firm said that the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) had successfully concluded the final major testwork program.
Medallion has received funding from the federal government through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) to support this work.
"This program’s key work, conducted by the SRC, was to produce and analyze different waste streams from additional ‘crack and leach’ tests on our monazite sand feedstock,” said Dr Kurt Forrester, Medallion’s metallurgist.
"We are now engaging processors, waste management and transportation groups to determine disposal options and costs. This fits with our recently announced plans to commission trade-off studies investigating suitable North American sites for our proposed plant including transportation costs related to feedstock, re-agents and waste material."
Also in the statement, Medallion revealed it had responded to the US defense department's request for information (RFI) about North America’s rare earth element (REE) supply chains, saying its monazite processing approach was a route to achieving near-term North American production.
The RFI had noted: "The domestic industrial capability to provide critical materials for use in essential citizen applications is vital for national security."
With China supplying around 80% of the world’s REEs and the US defense industry’s heavy reliance on China’s rare earth resources for important military technology, significant concerns have been raised about national security.
Monazite sand is a by-product from heavy mineral sands mining and has been recognized by the US Geological Survey as an important commercial source of REEs.
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