HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwired - Aug. 15, 2016) - Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:UCU)(OTCQX:UURAF) ("Ucore" or the "Company") is pleased to update on the continuing performance of the SuperLig®-One rare earth element ("REE") separation pilot plant (the "Plant" or "SuperLig®-One Pilot Plant".)
99.99% Dysprosium ("Dy") has been produced from pregnant leach solution ("PLS") derived from the Company's Bokan-Dotson Ridge project in Alaska by the SuperLig®-One Molecular Recognition Technology ("MRT") Pilot Plant at the IBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. ("IBC") Utah facility.
The pure Dy was recovered from the samarium-dysprosium sub group ("Dy Sub-group") of the heavy rare earth element ("HREE") class consisting of samarium-lutetium (see Ucore Press Release ("PR") dated July 5, 2016.)
"This is a significant metallurgical achievement," said Jim McKenzie, President & CEO of Ucore. "The recovery of near quantitative purities of Dy at industrial scale, solely using American feedstock, and without the use of chemically-intensive SX technologies, are significant firsts for the industry. The isolation of Dy at an advanced pilot scale has also been one of mission-critical objectives of SuperLig®-One since the early blueprint phase nine short months ago, and we're excited to complete this mission in such a concentrated time frame."
"Dysprosium is ranked among the most critically important metals to America by the USDOE1," continued McKenzie. "This metal is deployed extensively in United States military, high technology and clean energy sectors, with 100% of the product currently originating from China. Together with commodities such as lithium and cobalt, dysprosium is also a lynchpin in the development of electric vehicles and hybrid EV's. With SuperLig® products designed to recover Li and Co already on the shelf, our Dy ligand rounds out an already compelling platform for the rapidly growing low-emissions automotive sector."
1 http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/DOE_CMS2011_FINAL_Full.pdf
With the production of Dy at pilot scale now complete, Ucore will engage with a qualified third party to authenticate the Dy separation process and purity levels set out in this disclosure.
Since announcement of the completion of SuperLig® certifications; PLS analysis; automation control verification; water testing; process flow testing of the Plant; REE separation, as a group, from impurity metals ("Gangue Metals"); scandium separation from the group of REE; separation of the HREE class from the LREE class; and separation of the Dy Sub-group from the HREE class; the following results have been achieved using the SuperLig®-One Pilot Plant:
For further information on the SuperLig®-One Pilot Plant Mission Summary, please see the following link: http://ucore.com/superlig-one.
For background on traditional approaches to 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 and a member of Ucore's Advisory Board, has approved the scientific and technical content of this news release and is the Qualified Person responsible for its accuracy. Mr. Izatt, Registered Member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration ("SME"), holds a B.A. degree in Chemistry from Brigham Young University ("BYU"), as well as an M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering Practice and an M.S. degree in Technology and Policy, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ("MIT").
Background
Ucore Rare Metals is a development-phase company focused on rare metals resources, extraction and beneficiation technologies with near term potential for production, growth and scalability. On March 3, 2015, Ucore announced the right to acquire a controlling ownership interest in the exclusive rights to IBC SuperLig® technology for rare earths and multi-metallic tailings processing applications in North America and associated world markets. The Company has a 100% ownership stake in the Bokan project. On March 31, 2014, Ucore announced the unanimous support of the Alaska State Legislature for the investment of up to USD $145 Million in the Bokan project at the discretion of the Alaska Import Development and Export Agency ("AIDEA").
Cautionary Notes
This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities, research and development timelines, and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include exploitation and exploration successes or setbacks, research and develop successes or setbacks, continued availability of financing, and general economic, market or business conditions.
MRT is at advanced testing stages and has yet to be proven, at a commercial scale, for the separation of rare earth elements. The Company has not yet released an economic assessment on the use of MRT for the separation of rare earth elements and does not yet have any specific contracts for the processing of rare earths using MRT.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined by the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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