Medallion Completes Process Engineering Work for Rare-Earth Element Extraction

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medallion Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: MDL; OTCPK: MLLOF; Frankfurt: MRDN) (“Medallion” or the “Company”), pursuing North American production of rare-earth magnet metals, today reports the completion of Process Engineering Design for its proprietary extraction of a rare-earth element (REE) concentrate.

Summary of this news

• Completion of an extensive Process Engineering Design project for the extraction of REE from monazite sand, including detailed process flow diagrams and full waste management solutions.

• Project provides the requirements for a Techno-Economic Assessment (see description below) that will define economic considerations for a US-based REE operation.

• Sites and trade-off studies are now being evaluated in the US for prospective plant locations. Once complete, Medallion will progress to plant engineering, with a specific capacity and location.

• Medallion’s plant feedstock is by-product monazite sand, an REE mineral rich in rare-earth magnet metals, essential for high-strength magnets required to power EVs and hybrids.

“Completion of this design phase is a key milestone for Medallion. It marks the culmination of core test work and process development stages. We are now combining this work with trade-off studies already underway,” said Dr Kurt Forrester, consulting metallurgist. “This data forms the basis for our planned Techno-Economic Assessment that will provide design engineering specifications and produce capital and operating cost estimates for our proposed US rare-earth plant.”

The engineered process utilizes monazite sand, a low-cost by-product mineral, and provides a clean, safe, and automated REE-supply solution without the need for additional mining or upgrading. Monazite is produced in large volume in the eastern United States as a by-product from heavy-mineral sands mining. Today, this valuable material is stockpiled, sold to China, or returned to the mining pit from where it was extracted. Medallion’s process optimizes the extraction of a clean rare-earth element concentrate, which is ready for separation into marketable oxides, while dealing effectively with the waste material.