MKANGO RESOURCES LTD.
550 Burrard Street
Suite 2900
Vancouver
BC V6C 0A3
Canada
HYPROMAG GMBH TO PARTICIPATE IN
GROUNDBREAKING €8 MILLION GRANT FUNDED PROJECT:
RE-ENGINEERING PERMANENT MAGNETS FOR THE GREEN TRANSITION
(GREENE)
Highlights
· HyProMag GmbH is
participating in the €8 million GREENE project (the "Project"),
funded by the European Commission's Horizon Europe Programme, with
15 partners across industry and academia
(https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101129888)
· GREENE aims to push the
boundaries of material science by re-engineering rare earth
permanent magnets to become more resource-efficient, whilst
offering significant improvements to magnetic
performance
· As part of the Project,
HyProMag GmbH will receive €350,125 to advance its proprietary
NeoLeach technology, which is an environmentally friendly and
energy efficient chemical process to further upgrade products from
the Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap ("HPMS") process being
commercialised by HyProMag in Germany, UK and United
States
London / Vancouver: August 29, 2024 - Mkango Resources Ltd. (AIM/TSX-V: MKA) (the "Company" or
"Mkango") is pleased to announce that HyProMag GmbH is
participating in the €8 million grant funded
GREENE project, of which HyProMag GmbH will receive €350,125.
HyProMag GmbH is 80% owned by HyProMag Limited, a 100% owned
subsidiary of Maginito Limited ("Maginito"). Maginito is 79.4%
owned by Mkango and 20.6% owned by CoTec Holdings
("CoTec").
The
GREENE Project
Rare-earth element (REE) permanent
magnets based on Neodymium Iron Boron (Nd-Fe-B) are vital
components of high-tech products enabling a green energy future.
They are highly valued due to their outstanding properties. They
are complex materials consisting of multiple phases and their
overall performance is determined by a high remanence, reflected in
magnet strength, and a high intrinsic coercivity, making them
resistant to demagnetization. Their maximum energy product is thus
composed of both remanence and coercivity.
The need to operate at temperatures
over 100 °C in applications such as traction motors in electric
vehicles means that a high coercivity is usually prioritised over a
high remanence, which negatively affects power output linked to
remanence. In conventionally sintered magnets, NdFeB grains are
microscopic and the regions between the grains are called grain
boundaries. When exposed to a demagnetizing force, demagnetization
begins at the grain interfaces with the grain-boundary phase before
rapidly spreading, influencing the magnet's coercivity.
GREENE partners aim to push the
boundaries of material science by developing Single-Grain
Re-Engineered Nd- Fe-B permanent magnets with a new grain-boundary
interface, thus allowing for a reduction of REE content. The new
GREENE magnets are expected to be more resource-efficient, offering
a roughly 20% increase in coercivity, 10% in remanence, and 20% in
overall maximum energy product.
As a first step, novel grain
boundaries and interfaces will be created using micromagnetic
simulations and computational thermodynamics. Following an initial
testing phase, the technology will then be applied to isolated
grains from recycled and fresh streams with the intention of
developing a new form of Nd-Fe-B magnet. By the end of the project,
the magnet manufacturing system is intended to be set up in an
actual operational setting.
To achieve this ambitious
undertaking, 15 European partners with outstanding expertise in
their respective fields have joined forces, including leading
material scientists, magnet manufacturers and recyclers, lifecycle
analysis experts as well as end user representatives. Several of
them have already cooperated in predecessor projects like
SUSMAGPRO, INSPIRES and REEsilience. The project is coordinated by
the Slovenian Jožef Stefan Institute.
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 Limited, 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
Rare Earths UK Ltd ("Mkango UK"), focused on long loop rare earth
magnet recycling in the UK via a chemical route.
Maginito and CoTec are also
rolling out HyProMag's 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 the Project to achieve its
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, 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.