Montréal - TheNewswire - April 12, 2021 - St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CNSX:SX.CN) (OTC:SXOOF) (FSE:85G1) is pleased to disclose the results of its initial electric vehicle (EV) cathode material battery recycling tests aimed at specific car makers and OEM battery specifications.
100% of the targeted metals were recycled in situ or selectively leached in solution.
As previously disclosed in a press release titled “Initial Recovery Battery Test Results” dated February 22, 2021, the Company has set aside a significant portion of its laboratories resources to be able to perform “(…) additional tests to optimize the process of recovery of critical elements (…) using synthetic compounds to move the development along faster.” In a subsequent press release titled “EV Batteries Recovery Tests Results: Lithium” dated March 18, 2021, the Company disclosed that it had “(…) completed EV battery characterization for the following car makers: Tesla, General Motors (GM), Ford, Toyota, and Nissan. The batteries were sourced from industry aggregators. The Company’s chemists and metallurgists created synthetic powder clones of the metal’s components allowing the testing’s acceleration (…)” Additionally, leveraging the support of some important stakeholders in the success of Company initiatives, St-Georges’ metallurgists were able to gather data on the composition of certain batteries in development or about-to-be commercially deployed in the coming year that are Lithium-Iron-Phosphate or LFP (LiFePO4) based. These not-yet-on-the-market batteries have been conceptually characterized, synthetically reproduced, and tested with the Company’s processing technology.
Four sets of battery category, covering all current car makers previously mentioned, along with the addition of the LFP batteries, have been processed in St-Georges’ contracted pilot-plant installations:
This initial test campaign's objective was to determine which metals were put in solution from cathode materials using St-Georges’ proprietary acid-blend. From those experiments, it can be deduced that Lithium, Iron, Phosphate, Cobalt, Nickel, and Magnesium can be expected to be found in solution when using commercial batteries, on top of other metals such as Aluminium, Manganese, and Copper that can be recuperated in situ.
It is important to note that the LFP batteries might require a slightly different process to recycle 100% of the metals. Iron content generates a small amount of magnetism during the process while everything else remains in line with other battery compounds.
Other powders made from cathode material (NCA [Nickel, Cobalt, Aluminum, Lithium] and LTO [Titanium and Lithium]) are being shipped from St-Georges’ industrial chemical provider and will be tested soon.
The Company’s work on anode materials is moving along at a fast pace. The team expects to be able to disclose certifiable results within 4 to 6 weeks. The primary materials being recycled from the anode are graphite and silicon metal and, in smaller quantities, titanium. The team believes that these materials are currently more economical to mine than to recycle but believes that St-Georges’ process will improve the total battery recovery value proposition by eliminating these materials’ disposition costs. Management believes that any comparison to other competing technology must consider costs, cathode, anode, casing, and everything in between. The same can be said about the total material recuperation rate since cathodes are currently the global problem’s low-hanging fruit.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ENRICO DI CESARE
ST-GEORGES’ VICE-PRESIDENT RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT & DIRECTOR
St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry. The Company controls all the active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores for nickel & PGEs on the Julie Nickel Project and the Manicougan Palladium Project on Québec's North Shore. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges’ stock is listed on the CSE under the symbol SX, on the US OTC under the Symbol SXOOF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1.
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.
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