Geomega Resources in cooperation with FFE Service of Munich, Germany, have successfully  concluded tests confirming physical separation of rare earth elements (REE). Based on free flow electrophoresis technology, GéoMégA says its “physical separation process has the potential to dramatically reduce the capital required to build separation facilities compared to conventional techniques (i.e. fractional precipitation, ion exchange and solvent extraction), optimise REE recovery and improve the environmental performance of operations.”

Following months of extensive process optimization, a series of three tests have been conducted with the following characteristics:

• Selected REE in synthetic mixture are europium (Eu), ytterbium (Yb) and lanthanum (La)
• Total REE concentration is approximately 1 g/litre (65 millimolar)
• Single pass separation using the prototype instrument of FFE Service (96 separation channels).

The results from the three tests highlight the following advantages compared to conventional techniques: All REE are separated simultaneously and not sequentially and the purity level is 100%.

The process uses no organic solvent which should have a very positive impact on the mitigation of environmental risks in addition to reducing operating costs. The next series of separation tests aims to isolate “neighbour” REE such as neodymium (Nd) vs. praseodymium (Pr) and dysprosium (Dy) vs. terbium (Tb).

 “Not only the separation occurs simultaneously, the slower and less abundant heavy REE are the easiest to isolate using our physical approach. A lot of process optimization and engineering work ahead of us but the confidence level in commercial scale-up is now very high. The world is funding research and development for a sustainable alternative to solvent extraction dominated by China, this breakthrough developed with our partners over the last two years leads us to believe we are close to succeeding.” comments Simon Britt, President and CEO of GéoMégA.

The selling price of a mixed REE concentrate is evaluated according to the distribution of each REE and the impurities of the composition. As finished products require high purity individual REE, the value of the REE in a mixed concentrate is reduced by a significant percentage, i.e. between 25% and 100%. The reduction is based on the criticality of each REE. Currently, the most critical REE are neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy) due to increasing demand of powerful permanent magnets.

The ongoing preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for GéoMégA’s Montviel project has a mixed REE concentrate as base case scenario. Since the separation process is in development and the potential impact very favourable, it will be excluded from the PEA base case scenario. Produced by G Mining Services Inc., the Company expects the completion of the PEA during the third fiscal quarter of 2014.

Electrophoresis is the migration of charged species (ions, proteins, particles) in solution in the presence of an electric field. Each ion moves toward the electrode of opposite electrical polarity. For a given set of solution conditions and electric field intensity, the migration velocity depends on a characteristic number called the electrophoretic mobility. The electrophoretic mobility is directly proportional to the charge to size ratio of the ion.

The mission of the FFE Service is the development and advancement of Free Flow Electrophoresis (FFE) and its application in research of biopolymers and bioparticles, with the focus in the field of protein research.

GéoMégA owns 100% of the Montviel rare earth elements/niobium project located in Québec.