Ucore Separates HREE and LREE Classes at 99%+ Purity via SuperLig(R)-One Pilot Plant - Seite 2

Since announcement of the completion of SuperLig^® certifications; PLS analysis; automation control verification; water testing; process flow testing of the Plant; REE separation, as a group, from the Gangue Metals; and scandium separation from the group of REE; the following results have been achieved using the SuperLig^®-One Plant:

• Separation of REE into HREE and LREE Classes - HREE and LREE groups were separated from each other at the 99%+ level. Each class contains a minimum of 99% of the HREE and LREE, respectively, originally present in the PLS. Recovery of greater than 99% of 99%+ pure HREE and LREE is in sharp contrast to the processing of REE-bearing solutions using other, less selective Legacy Separation Technologies, wherein large percentages of the initial REE may end up as waste in tailings. The highly selective, green chemistry SuperLig^®-One separations make the HREE and LREE classes available for further separations, as desired, of individual pure REE free from Gangue Metals.
  
  
• REE Purity - Purity of each of the HREE and LREE classes is greater than 99% versus Gangue Metals and other REE. Prior removal of the Gangue Metals and separation of the REE into distinct classes greatly simplifies the further purification of the PLS to obtain individual REE.
  
  
• Verification of Purities and Confirmation of Scale-up Parameters - Purities and recoveries of the HREE and LREE classes from the PLS have been verified analytically at IBC using inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy ("ICP".) Purities and recovery rates obtained are consistent with those found earlier in lab-scale test work at IBC (see PR dated March 2, 2015), in which purities of the individually separated REE were verified by an independent analytical laboratory, confirming that the SuperLig^®-One Plant is scaling as expected. Scaling of the Plant is enhanced by the numerical knowledge of all operating parameters at the molecular level, which were determined previously at laboratory scale. Subsequent scaling then follows directly using well known chemical engineering principles, as seen in the functioning SuperLig^®-One Plant.

The SuperLig^®-One Plant offers a disruptive technology platform for diversifying, from commercial, geographical and technological perspectives, the separation and processing of REE. Currently concentrated in China, present-day REE processing is oligopolistic and depends upon an installed base of Legacy Separation Technologies. The introduction of efficient, innovative, green chemistry REE production using MRT is expected to substantially alter this dynamic and strengthen the domestic, commercial, and military economies of the United States and other nations that depend on reliable and efficiently processed sources of rare metals, such as REE, for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous future.