- Successful selective leaching to remove Magnesium Oxide (MgO) and Calcium Oxide (CaO) was achieved
- This allows the potential recovery of High Purity MgO and eliminates the need for membranes and other purification steps required to make high purity lithium that can be used to make lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and/or lithium metal.
Montreal, QC / December 20, 2018 – St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE: SX) (OTC: SXOOF) (FSE: 85G1) is pleased to provide an update on the development of its lithium-in-clay extraction technology.
Successful selective leaching to remove Magnesium Oxide (MgO) and Calcium Oxide (CaO) was achieved. This allows the potential recovery of High Purity MgO and eliminates the need for membranes and other purification steps required to make high purity lithium that can be used to make lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and/or lithium metal.
“(…) Selective leaching of Magnesium, Calcium and Sodium is an interesting breakthrough that helps to make the down stream processing for lithium purification simpler with fewer challenges on water/acid balances, reduction in chemical usage and lower energy requirements. (…) We are still investigating converting problem elements into valuable salable by-products helping our cost structure and ecological focus (…)” said Enrico Di Cesare, St-Georges’ Vice-President Research & Development.
St-Georges tested its metallurgical process in a simulated industrial environment using large quantity of material received in September from the Bonnie Claire deposit owned 100% by its partner Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: ICM). Approximately 100kg of Bonnie Claire material was used in the current test phase. 5 independent laboratories participated in the effort. The initial mechanical separation step was tested with an equipment vendor in Pennsylvania. The results show that 55% of the mass can be removed while concentrating the lithium without the use of water and chemicals.
St-Georges is working on the filing of two provisional patents in relation to the first phase of development of the process. Further testing is underway to optimize and firm up the patent applications. The current developments simplify and improve the process flow sheet. It eliminates the need to use membranes and it is expected to decrease total chemicals used.
In mutual agreement with Iconic Minerals, St-Georges’ management is revising the initial planning allowing to accelerate the development of the technology and should deliver a report to Iconic in January that will include elements that were initially expected in the second development report. Additional testing is currently underway for that purpose. St-Georges also expects to issue an additional press release in early January after it receives the results to the verification tests that it has just commissioned following this potential breakthrough.
Joel Scodnick, P.Geo, and Herb Duerr, P.Geo both qualified persons under NI 43-101 have reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Frank Dumas”
FRANCOIS (FRANK) DUMAS, DIRECTOR & COO
About St-Georges
St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve the some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry.
The Company controls directly or indirectly, through rights of first refusal, all of the active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores for nickel on the Julie Nickel Project & for industrial minerals on Quebec’s North Shore and for lithium and rare metals in Northern Quebec and in the Abitibi region. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges’ stock is listed on the CSE under the symbol SX, on the US OTC under the Symbol SXOOF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1.
The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.