Ucore Updates on Early-Stage Performance of SuperLig(R)-One Pilot Plant - Seite 2

"We're pleased with IBC's continued rapid progress towards confirming the use of MRT for the separation of rare earth elements at pilot scale," said Jim McKenzie, President and CEO of Ucore. "To see the results of the Rare Earth Class Separation, completely consistent with those predicted at bench-scale, provides us with further confidence regarding the ability for SuperLig^® to scale to full production levels. We look forward to releasing ongoing results as they become available."

The next stages of operation will consist of running pure REE solution sequentially through each unit operation in the Plant to accomplish the following:

• Removal of Scandium (Sc) - Sc is a highly valued REE used in advanced aluminum alloys for the aerospace sector.
  
  
• Class Separation of Light REE (lanthanum to neodymium plus yttrium) and Heavy REE (samarium to lutetium) - Separation of remaining REE (scandium having been separated earlier) into these two groups is an important juncture, since heavy REE are more valuable as a group, scarcer on world markets, and contain more of the Critical Rare Earth Oxides ("CREOs").
  
  
• Separation of Individual REE - This phase of the SuperLig^®-One pilot program will demonstrate separation of Heavy CREOs, as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy. These separations will produce terbium and europium at over 99% purity, plus dysprosium at 99.99% purity. The remaining solution containing heavy REE (holmium to lutetium; gadolinium and samarium) and light REE (lanthanum to neodymium and yttrium) will be retained for future separations, as required.
  
  

After confirmatory testing of each unit operation, the Plant will undergo a continuous run of PLS.

For further information on the SuperLig^®-One Pilot Plant Mission Summary, please see the following link: http://ucore.com/superlig-one

For background on the traditional approaches to the separation of REE and the historical advance offered by MRT, please refer to the recently published White Paper on Separation of Rare Earth Elements, entitled "Molecular Recognition Technology: A Green Chemistry Process for Separation of Individual Rare Earth Metals," at the following link: http://ucore.com/academic-papers

Steven R. Izatt, President and CEO of IBC, has approved the scientific and technical content of this news release and is the Qualified Person responsible for its accuracy. Mr. Izatt, Registered Member SME, holds a B.A. degree in Chemistry from Brigham Young University ("BYU"), as well as an M.S. in Chemical Engineering Practice and an M.S. in Technology and Policy, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ("MIT").