Technological Advancement in the Processing of Black Mass
Montréal – TheNewswire - October 19, 2021 – St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE:SX) (OTC:SXOOF) (FSE:85G1) (CNSX:SX.CN) is pleased to disclose that it has successfully advanced its metallurgical process that now allows an ecological recovery of all material contained in batteries, either from electric or legacy vehicles that have any lead components.
St-Georges’ metallurgical team can now safely recycle all components of legacy internal combustion engines (ICE) car battery as well as lead-containing and difficult to recycle elements and black mass from pluggable electric and hybrid car batteries.
The new process will allow EVSX, the Company’s battery recycling unit, to take all sorts of black mass mix in one metallurgical circuit. All trials confirm that the lead is not leaching with the other metals and can all be retrieved and segregated.
The black mass material processed was provided by a company located in the United Kingdom that executed a confidential agreement with St-Georges earlier this year. This company could potentially become a provider of black mass feedstock via sea freight. EVSX’s strategy is to bridge the expected increase in EV batteries to be recycled over the next decade by producing lithium from spodumene in one of its industrial circuits and recovering valuable metals from black mass readily available on the market. Some of the potential providers of the black mass being sought are other North American battery recycling plants that will only be producing black mass, from which valuable metals still must be recovered, in the first phase of their business plan.
The black mass was received and prepared by St-Georges’ metallurgists and sent to the Company’s contracted independent laboratories, Coalia, located in Thetford Mines, Québec. Coalia’s independent tests reproduced the steps established by St-Georges and confirmed that the lead can be safely segregated as an initial step of the Company’s selective leaching patent-pending technology.
Other updates
Recovery of lithium from clay
St-Georges’ metallurgical team is preparing its contracted installations to allow a full pilot-plant circuit to be configured to enable a complete run of its process with the help of independent engineers that will constitute the last stage of the development effort conducted with Iconic Minerals with its Bonnie Claire lithium and fertilizer project.
All steps have now been completed in separate efforts and will be run concurrently in an industrial setting in its pilot plant as soon as the Company receives its custom-made precipitation units expected to arrive in Canada within the next 15 to 20 days.
Spodumene processing
The Company has commissioned the front end of its spodumene pilot-plant circuit and is ready to process sizeable amounts of spodumene into lithium carbonate this month. It is expected that the production will be converted to lithium hydroxide in the new year as the Company receives delivery of additional industrial equipment. St-Georges targets a steady rate of production of 3,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide from spodumene concentrate acquired in the market by the end of 2022. Management has received unsolicited offtake offers pertaining to resale market opportunities for the materials to be produced.
Battery Recycling
The Company’s consultants will be working with its contracted pilot plant technicians and researchers to run a live battery recycling circuit in the first part of the month of November, enabling the last step of data acquisition required to complete its feasibility study.
Trading of the Company Securities in the USA
The Company was informed that it has been approved to be upgraded to trade on the OTCQB on October 20th, 2021.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Enrico Di Cesare”
ENRICO DI CESARE
Director & President of St-Georges Metallurgy Corp.
About St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp.
St-Georges develops new technologies to solve some of the most common environmental problems in the mining sector, including maximizing metal recovery and full circle EV battery recycling. The Company explores for nickel & PGEs on the Julie Nickel Project and the Manicougan Palladium Project on Quebec's North Shore and has multiple exploration projects in Iceland, including the Thor Gold Project. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges' stock is listed on the CSE under the symbol SX and trades on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1 and on the OTCQB Venture Market for early stage and developing U.S. and international companies. Companies are current in their reporting and undergo an annual verification and management certification process. Investors can find Real-Time quotes and market information for the company on www.otcmarkets.com
The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.