Medallion Resources Ltd Expands Rare Earth Elements Separation Test Work

Medallion Resources Ltd ("Medallion" or the "Company") provided an update on research conducted with Purdue University to advance and optimize ligand-assisted displacement (LAD) chromatography for rare earth elements (REE) separations. As reported on February 18, 2021, Medallion is the exclusive licensee of this breakthrough environmental technology for all raw materials of non-coal origin.

In June 2021, the Medallion-Purdue team completed the separation of the high purity magnetic REEs neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr) from solutions of natural monazite origin. The rapid progress and positive results highlight the skills and experience of Professor Linda Wang, postdoctoral research assistant Yi Ding and their extended research group, and the relatively mature state of LAD chromatography.

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The LAD chromatography method is based on Purdue's proprietary chromatographic simulation technology, which enables optimized and highly targeted testing.

Following the rapid success and milestones of the research and development project, Medallion procured a larger scale automated benchtop chromatograph for Professor Wang's laboratory. This scaled-up system enables accelerated testing and separation of rare earth elements.

In addition, the larger volume allows for more accurate separation of low-concentration but high-value elements such as dysprosium (Dy), terbium (Tb), and scandium (Sc). Separation models for these heavy elements have been developed, and raw metal elemental materials have been obtained for test work.

To support Purdue's expanded separation test work, Medallion has contracted the Saskatchewan Research Council to prepare 70 kg of mixed REE carbonate from Medallion's stockpile of mineral monazite. This REE carbonate will form the basis of a separation study in preparation for pilot plant operations during 2022.

In addition, research and mathematical modeling will focus on screening and validating LAD chromatography materials (resins and pre-saturates) to maximize efficacy, regenerative capacity and minimize waste. Mark Saxon, President, and CEO said: "The achievements to date demonstrate the robustness of the mathematical modeling framework and digital design process, which refines a complex set of process alternatives into a small set of tests. This breakthrough separation technology will have a very wide range of applications and we are now sharing the results with potential partners in all parts of the rare earth ore supply chain under confidentiality agreements."

As previously announced, Medallion Resources Ltd has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with ACDC Metals Ltd, the owner of various monazite-rich mineral sands projects in eastern Australia.

The LOI is for the construction of a monazite processing facility in eastern Australia based on the Medallion monazite process and LAD chromatography, with the opportunity to process feedstock from a range of sources.ACDC Metals Ltd has commenced the initial public offering (IPO) process for a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) with a target of late 2021 to early 2022. Medallion Resources Limited is one of the founding shareholders.

Medallion's recently completed techno-economic assessment has provided ACDC Metals Limited with engineering and financial modeling data to rapidly progress the permitting and execution of a monazite processing facility within the mineral sands-rich monazite jurisdiction.

As announced on January 5, 2021, Medallion contracted Minviro Ltd to complete a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Medallion contracted Minviro in western Texas. The LCA has been externally reviewed for compliance with ISO standards. Minviro Ltd has completed a similar LCA for southeast Australia to support the activities of ACDC Metals Ltd and to demonstrate the low impact nature of the process on the environment.

 

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