Mag One Products Inc has announced that its Quebec-based subsidiary, Mag One Operations, has concluded a Contribution Agreement with the Government of Canada via Natural Resources Canada under its Clean Growth Program (CGP). The agreement calls for the Subsidiary to receive from CGP up to C$1,666,500 in non-repayable funding for its Front-End Engineering Design study for a high purity magnesium oxide demonstration plant using serpentinite tailings from former Quebec mining operations. The project also includes an additional C$247,000 in funding directly from the CGP to CanmetMINING via the CGP’s Science and Technology Assistance for Cleantech (STAC) projects initiative – a total of C$1,913,500 from the CGP for the project. The overall budget for the forthcoming work in this project, including in-kind contributions, is C$3,600,000.

The project consists of performing the basic engineering, along with developmental work to fill the technical data gaps, for the subsidiary’s 30,000 t/y high purity magnesium oxide (HP MgO) demonstration plant to be located in southeastern Quebec. Since 2016, the subsidiary has been collaborating with a number of organisations, including CIMMS (Carrefour d’innovation sur les matériaux de la MRC des Sources), the University of Sherbrooke, and the Government of Quebec’s Ministry for Economy and Innovation, in the development of what it refers to as a “game-changing, clean technology to produce valuable products from these mine tailings.” The subsidiary has also secured access to up to 110 Mt of serpentinite tailings in two Quebec locations. A patent application was filed in 2018 on the innovation. One location is in Asbestos, Quebec and one in Thetford Mines, Quebec. Both have been secured with agreements whereby a payment is issued for tailings from each site only upon use.

Tony Louie, President and CEO of Mag One, said the following: “We are grateful to the Government of Canada for their support. This Agreement will propel our efforts in Quebec to bring our first state-of-the-art plant to fruition and create value for our shareholders. Moreover, our investment in Quebec will be a stimulus for the creation of jobs in the region and will serve as a foundation to move our magnesium metal technology developments forward.”

Gillian Holcroft, President of the Subsidiary, Mag One Operations, added “I must thank all of our collaborators who have helped get us to where we are today, including the Government of Quebec. Our novel, zero waste modular (HP MgO) production technology is ideally suited for rapid ramp up towards commercialization. This new support from the Government of Canada will enable us to quickly bring to market new value-added products such as HP MgO and high value amorphous silica as well as generate a new source of nickel and cobalt, all the while enabling remediation of the land where the tailings are located for eventual repurposing.”