MKANGO RESOURCES LTD.
550 Burrard Street
Suite 2900
Vancouver
BC V6C 0A3
Canada
HYPROMAG AND MKANGO RARE EARTHS SECURE
UK GOVERNMENT GRANT FUNDING
Highlights
· HyProMag Ltd ("HyProMag") and
Mkango Rare Earths UK Ltd ("Mkango UK") have been awarded grants
totalling £218,932 by Innovate UK to advance their medium-loop (via
remelting) and long-loop (via chemical processing) rare earth
magnet recycling routes - both underpinned by the patented Hydrogen
Processing of Magnet Scrap ("HPMS") technology developed at the
University of Birmingham for demagnetising and liberating
end-of-life ("EoL") rare earth magnets from scrap streams. HyProMag
is the exclusive licencee of the HPMS process.
· These recycling routes are
complementary to the short-loop rare earth magnet recycling and
manufacturing being commercialised by HyProMag in the UK, Germany
and the United States, and provide additional flexibility to
maximise value and minimise the carbon footprint for a broader
variety of NdFeB feeds including EoL sources and pre-production
swarf.
· In the REEmelt Project,
HyProMag will collaborate with Less Common Metals ("LCM"), ADEY
Innovation Ltd ("ADEY") and the University of Birmingham ("UoB") to
liberate EoL rare earth magnets via HPMS, followed by remelting,
strip casting and remanufacture into a new sintered rare earth
magnet for demonstration in an ADEY magnetic
filter.
· In the
Sustainable
Alternative to Hydrometallurgical Processes ("SAHP") Project, Mkango UK will collaborate with Imperial
College spin-out, Nanomox Ltd ("Nanomox"), to validate its
novel Oxidative Ionothermal
Synthesis ("OIS®") process at pilot scale,
which provides an opportunity to lower the environmental impact and
cost of long-loop chemical processing, leveraging off the existing
pilot facilities already developed by Mkango UK at Tyseley Energy
Park in Birmingham.
London / Vancouver: October 3, 2024 - Mkango Resources Ltd. (AIM/TSX-V: MKA) (the "Company" or
"Mkango") is pleased to announce that HyProMag and Mkango UK
have been awarded grants totalling £218,932
as part of the CLIMATES
(Circular critical materials supply chains)
programme, a £15 million
investment delivered by Innovate UK, which aims to strengthen the
UK's supply chain resilience within critical minerals. Both
HyProMag and Mkango UK are 100% owned subsidiaries of
Maginito Limited ("Maginito"), which is 79.4%
owned by Mkango and 20.6% owned by CoTec Holdings
("CoTec").
Mike Biddle, Exec Director for Net Zero at Innovate UK,
stated: "An electric vehicle and many green
technologies not only requires Cobalt, Lithium and Graphite for the
battery but also Rare Earth Elements for the high-performance
permanent magnets used in the electric motors. The innovative
partnerships we are funding will explore novel ways to support
our supply of these Rare Earth Elements in the UK and have enormous
potential. Backing from Innovate UK will accelerate their work
towards commercialisation."
REEmelt
REEmelt is a £589,852 project focused on medium-loop
rare earth magnet recycling (via remelting) to produce NdFeB strip
cast alloys for remanufacture back into sintered rare earth magnets
for demonstration in an ADEY magnetic filter. ADEY developed the
world's first magnetic filter device (The MagnaClean®) and these
are installed on over 10 million central heating systems
worldwide.
Recycled NdFeB liberated from scrap streams via the
HPMS process will be remelted and strip cast by LCM at its
commercial operations in Ellesmere Port, UK, to provide a feed for
magnet making. The remelting process has the effect of reducing
impurities and enhancing the chemical composition, also allowing
the opportunity for additional blending. LCM has the equipment,
technology and expertise for remelting and alloy manufacture, with
HyProMag and the University of Birmingham focused on HPMS and
magnet manufacture, and ADEY focused on product demonstration.
Medium-loop recycling via remelting is complementary to short-loop
and long-loop recycling also being developed by UoB, HyProMag and
Mkango UK, and progressing this additional capability gives even
more flexibility to process different scrap streams and provide
tailored recycling solutions with potential for greater recycling
and recovery rates across all applications.
Nick Mann, Managing Director of HyProMag stated:
"We are very
pleased to be working with market leaders in their respective
fields, enhancing opportunities to add value and build
relationships ahead of our targeted UK commercialisation early next
year. This project significantly enhances our opportunities to
process different scrap feed and to broaden the range of potential
products."
Aaron Riley, General Manager of Less Common Metals
stated: "We are excited to support an additional UK
project focussed on advancing the circular economy and building an
alternative route for rare earth magnets. As part of the Innovate
UK-funded REEmelt project, LCM will collaborate with HyProMag Ltd,
ADEY Innovation Ltd, and the University of Birmingham to recycle
and remanufacture rare earth magnets from end-of-life sources. By
utilising Hydrogen Processing of
Magnet Scrap (HPMS) technology, developed at the University of
Birmingham and exclusively licenced to
HyProMag, rare earth magnets will be
liberated from scrap, remelted, and strip cast at our site in
Ellesmere Port in the Northwest of England.
This innovative process reduces impurities and enhances the
chemical composition of rare earth elements, allowing for tailored
recycling solutions. Collaboration is key and partnerships will
enhance supply chain opportunities, minimize carbon footprint, and
maximize value from different scrap streams. LCM looks forward to
fostering key relationships through this project, which complements
existing short and long-loop recycling efforts and supports the
UK's push toward greater supply chain resilience in critical
materials."
Helen Isherwood, Managing Director of ADEY Innovation Ltd
stated: "We have been working with HyProMag and
Birmingham University for some time and have been very impressed by
their tenacity and commitment to resolving the challenge of
recycling rare earth magnets. We are delighted that they have
secured additional funding to further progress a project that has
the potential to provide a very practical solution to addressing
carbon net zero and supply chain challenges."
Prof David Brown, Industrial Professor of Magnetic Materials
at the University of Birmingham stated: "The University of
Birmingham's Magnetics Materials Group has been at the forefront of
materials development, manufacturing technologies and
characterisation for over 50 years. Our experienced team and
bespoke suite of equipment and processing capabilities are ready to
add value and deliver the goals of the REEMelt project. In
particular, the Group operates specialised pilot-scale furnaces for
alloying, strip-casting and jet-casting kilogram-scale batches of
complex alloys. The ability to control the cast structure of rare
earth based permanent magnet materials is absolutely critical to
their ultimate performance."
SAHP - OIS(R) as a Sustainable Alternative to
Hydrometallurgical Processes
This is a £249,682 project focused on long-loop rare
earth magnet recycling (via a chemical route) to process
NdFeB feeds from EoL sources and pre-production
swarf toproduce rare earth oxides and carbonates. The
project will test Nanomox's OIS® process at pilot scale, via
integration with Mkango UK's existing long-loop pilot facilities at
Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham, and will enable completion of
feasibility studies to fully evaluate the process.
Nanomox has developed a novel and highly innovative
synthetic manufacturing process, termed OIS®, which can process polymetallic
materials to selectively extract and recover target metals allowing
for more efficient recycling and processing of industrial waste
streams. OIS® uses green
catalytic solvents (ionic liquids) which facilitate processing in
the absence of volatile and hazardous chemicals. These ionic
liquids can be recycled, lowering process waste and associated
processing costs.
Following the commissioning of its long-loop pilot
plant in July 2024, Mkango UK has been progressing process
optimisation activities, scoping studies, and evaluation of bolt-on
technology enhancements, which will now include OIS®, enabling the evaluation of
different options for long-loop recycling on a commercial
basis.
Nielson Beddoe,
Process Engineering Manager of Mkango UK stated:
"We are very excited to be
working with Nanomox - this project is fully aligned with our
strategy to evaluate new technologies for integration with our
long-loop process, enhancing options for commercial development
whilst developing opportunities for lowering the carbon footprint,
environmental impact and operating costs."
Francisco Malaret,
CEO and Co-founder at Nanomox, stated: "I am thrilled to collaborate with experts in
the REE space to expand the capabilities of our OIS® process to
critical minerals essential for advancing green technologies. I
believe ionic liquids will play a pivotal role in enabling
sustainable REE processing. On behalf of the Nanomox team, I'd like
to thank our commercial partners and the funding agency for this
opportunity to explore new avenues for innovation."
About Mkango Resources Ltd.
Mkango is listed on the AIM and the TSX-V. Mkango's
corporate strategy is to become a market leader in the production
of recycled rare earth magnets, alloys and oxides, through its
interest in Maginito, which is owned 79.4 per cent by Mkango and
20.6 per cent by CoTec, and to develop new sustainable sources of
neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium to supply
accelerating demand from electric vehicles, wind turbines and other
clean energy technologies.
Maginito holds a 100 per cent
interest in HyProMag and a 90 per cent direct and indirect interest
(assuming conversion of Maginito's convertible loan) in HyProMag
GmbH, focused on short loop rare earth magnet recycling in the UK
and Germany, respectively, and a 100 per cent interest in Mkango
UK, focused on long loop rare earth magnet recycling in the UK via
a chemical route.
Maginito and CoTec are also
rolling out the HPMS recycling technology into the United States
via the 50/50 owned HyProMag USA LLC joint venture company.
HyProMag is also evaluating other jurisdictions,
and recently launched a collaboration with Envipro on rare earth
magnet recycling in Japan.
Mkango also owns the advanced stage Songwe Hill rare
earths project and an extensive rare earths, uranium, tantalum,
niobium, rutile, nickel and cobalt exploration portfolio in Malawi,
and the Pulawy rare earths separation project in Poland.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements
(within the meaning of that term under applicable securities laws)
with respect to Mkango. Generally, forward looking statements can
be identified by the use of words such as "targeted", "plans",
"expects" or "is expected to", "scheduled", "estimates" "intends",
"anticipates", "believes", or variations of such words and phrases,
or statements that certain actions, events or results "can", "may",
"could", "would", "should", "might" or "will", occur or be
achieved, or the negative connotations thereof. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions
or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their
nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions,
known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and
specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions,
forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will
not occur, which may cause actual performance and results in future
periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of
future performance or results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, without
limiting the foregoing, the success of REEmelt and SAHP to achieve
their aims and the commercial application of the results, the
availability of (or delays in obtaining) financing to develop the
various recycling plants in the UK, Germany and the US,
governmental action and other market effects on global demand and
pricing for the metals and associated downstream products for which
Mkango is researching and developing, the ability to scale the HPMS
and chemical recycling technologies to commercial scale,
competitors having greater financial capability and effective
competing technologies in the recycling business of Maginito and
separation business of Mkango, availability of scrap supplies for
recycling activities, government regulation (including the impact
of environmental and other regulations) on and the economics in
relation to recycling and the development of the various recycling
plants of Maginito and future investments in the United States
pursuant to the cooperation agreement between Maginito and CoTec,
the outcome and timing of the completion of the feasibility
studies, cost overruns, complexities in building and operating the
plants, and the positive results of feasibility studies on the
various proposed aspects of Maginito's activities. The
forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made
as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the
Company disclaims any intention and assume no obligation to update
or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
applicable law. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation
to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third
parties in respect of the matters discussed above.
For further
information on Mkango, please contact:
Mkango Resources
Limited
William Dawes
Alexander Lemon
Chief Executive Officer
President
will@mkango.ca
alex@mkango.ca
Canada: +1 403 444 5979
www.mkango.ca
@MkangoResources
SP Angel
Corporate Finance LLP
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Jeff Keating, Caroline Rowe
UK: +44 20 3470 0470
Alternative Resource
Capital
Joint Broker
Alex Wood, Keith Dowsing
UK: +44 20 7186 9004/5
The TSX Venture Exchange has
neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press
release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to buy any equity or other securities of
the Company in the United States. The securities of the Company
will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and may not be offered
or sold within the United States to, or for the account or benefit
of, U.S. persons except in certain transactions exempt from the
registration requirements of the U.S. Securities
Act.