The recent cash inflow from the C$600,000 placement allows Medallion Resources (MDL.V) to aggressively advance its production of Rare Earth Elements by processing monazite, a waste product from mineral sands operations.
The ongoing test work is now focusing on two important parts of the process: first of all, the company is still identifying options to reduce its expected operating costs to effectively recover the REE from the monazite, and it’s working with a team of the University of Toronto to establish the thermodynamic models of phosphate conversion and caustic regeneration projects. We are very interested in gaining additional insight in the phosphate data, as this could be an interesting by-product of the process. Approximately one quarter of monazite consists of phosphate and if this could be recovered and processed into a saleable product, the revenue from phosphate sales could help to reduce the production cost of the REE’s, which are the real money makers for Medallion. As a reminder, the federal government will subsidize this test work for approximately 75% of its total cost.
Parallel to figuring out further cost saving measures, Medallion also continues to work on dealing with the waste materials that will be created by the process. The Saskatchewan Research Council is currently analyzing these waste streams and the results will be shared with waste processors and waste disposal firms to determine the best option to deal with it. And CEO Don Lay knows his way in the subsidy landscape as 60% of this activity will be subsidized by the government as well.
By using subsidies where possible, Medallion Resources doesn’t need huge amounts of money to further refine its flow sheet and the C$600,000 it recently raised will go a long way. Medallion is currently entering into discussions with engineering groups to get some price quotes for a full-sized production plant and this will help us to further finetune our economic model.
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The author has a long position in Medallion Resources. Medallion is a sponsor of the website. Please read the disclaimer
