Medallion Resources Ltd. (TSXV:MDL, OTCQX:MLLOF), today announced its recent process testwork produced a cerium-depleted rare earth concentrate containing 41.6% of the magnet metals neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) by mass. The contained NdPr represents an estimated 81.6% of the concentrate value, based on current market values of the contained rare earth elements (REEs).
NdPr is the key input material for the high-powered permanent rare earth magnets required for the growing demands of vehicle electrification, wind power generation and robotics.
“This is an excellent result. It provides confirmation we can recover a marketable mix of magnet metals from the tested commercial monazite feedstock,” said Don Lay, Medallion’s President & CEO. “Given the improving market for REEs and these favourable results, we can confidently accelerate our extraction process testwork to deliver a rare earth concentrate product rich in valuable magnet metals.”
Medallion is pursuing near-term production of REEs in North America, by sourcing and processing monazite sand available as a by-product of heavy-mineral sands mining operations. Monazite, a rare earth phosphate mineral, has a history as a commercial REE resource with well-understood metallurgy. Medallion is also working to ensure safe transport, processing, and disposal of the naturally occurring radioactive elements associated with monazite.
Rare Earth Concentrate Product
Further to the completion of its recent process testwork, reported February 7, 2018, Medallion has now received the final report from the Saskatchewan Research Council. The testwork results show a mixed rare earth carbonate concentrate product containing 41.6% NdPr of rare earth mass compared to the 23.2% NdPr of rare earth mass in the monazite feedstock. The testwork achieved an 84.8% recovery of REEs, excluding cerium, from the initial grinding through to the production of the carbonate concentrate.
The high NdPr content was achieved through a process enhancement. This step removed the bulk of low-valued cerium and enabled production of a more valuable concentrate product. The quoted value for NdPr oxide is approximately $55.00 per kg, which represents an increase of approximately 30% over the past year.
“This process enhancement utilizes the unique oxidation states of cerium to remove, or deplete, the bulk of the cerium from the other rare earths, all of which are chemically similar,” said Kurt Forrester, PhD, Medallion’s consulting metallurgist. “Cerium depletion is one example of the value-add process enhancements we are looking to deploy in our monazite extraction process to maximize recovery of valuable materials and effectively utilize reagents.”
The table below summarizes the distribution of REEs contained in the tested monazite sand feedstock and the carbonate concentrate produced in the recent testwork.
