Update on Lithium Processing Technology Initiative & Iceland Gold Exploration

2020-04-24 / @thenewswire

(TheNewswire)

Montréal – TheNewswire - April 24, 2020 – St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE:SX) (CNSX:SX.CN) (OTC:SXOOF) (FSE: 85G1) is pleased to announce that it has secured vendors and accepted proposals from third-party laboratories to further its lithium metallurgical processing technology’s advanced bench testing and its pilot plant.

Up to recently, the Company had strategically divided the research workload between various laboratories to protect the intellectual property being developed. These segmented R&D silos will now come together and be integrated within the pilot plant operations.

As previously announced on February 10, 2020, in the “Winter Update” press release, the Company expected to secure an agreement within the second quarter of 2020. The use of ready-made facilities will generate significant cost reductions and represent a faster alternative than the building of a pilot plant from scratch. St-Georges’ management evaluated different proposals from various potential providers that were intended to meet the Company’s requirements.

The main contractor retained tipped the balance in its favor with a wealth of experience and state-of-the-art, ready-made facilities that only required certain adjustments specific to the St-Georges process. The team expects an adjustment period, and plant trial runs during Q2 and Q3 2020, subject to Quebec COVID-19 confinement releases. Full pilot scale testing should be initiated in or around the beginning of this year Q4.

The Company is expecting to receive materials from Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: ICM) in accordance with the next phase of the on-going research and development program in place with the Company. Discussions are being held with various mines operators and mineral developers. Producers of spodumene concentrate have shown interest in supplying material for testing.

Quebec Lithium Resources

St-Georges also sourced material from a Quebec-based lithium project. The Company’s contractors will be preparing 10 to 15 tonnes of material that should yield results of approximately three metric tonnes of industry-grade spodumene concentrate suitable for pilot testing with the St-Georges’ process. The material should be available to the metallurgical team in the weeks following the Quebec government’s lifting of the COVID-19 lock-down. Sourcing local Quebec material qualifies the Company to apply for certain governmental grants, and the Company expects to apply for these grants in 2020.

Enrico Di Cesare, President of St-Georges Metallurgy Corp., commented: “Our partners’ facilities seem built for St-Georges. Under the circumstances, it would be non-sensical to spend time and money to replicate the facilities that they own. These groups have significant experience with concentrating, acids and solutions we will be using. In addition, it de-risks St-Georges by allowing us to focus on development work that is on-going. St-Georges looks forward to working with all our partners at CTMP (Centre de Technologie Minérale et de Plasturgie inc.), which has performed the early development work and will continue to work with the St-Georges team. We feel we will be able to accelerate the development and eventual market acceptance of the products we intend to produce. We believe this combination of laboratory work at bench scale and eventual large-scale pilot plant operations will accelerate our development work. We feel blessed to have two quality partners to move forward with, and we continue our collaborations with universities that specialize in this field of work.”

St-Georges Metallurgy Corp.

On February 27, 2020, St-Georges incorporated a new subsidiary, St-Georges Metallurgy Corp., and appointed Enrico Di Cesare as its President and CEO. This entity is owned 100% by St-Georges and will handle all metallurgical R&D, laboratory partnerships, metallurgical joint ventures, and related intellectual property.

In April, the Company has secured the services of a veteran metallurgist, Mr. Ian J. Cox, to work on the projects with a focus on both lithium and nickel

Ian has a degree in fuel and combustion science, from Leeds University, UK. With post-grad courses in project management from the University of Tennessee, leadership from Harvard, and finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he is an experienced project manager/process engineer with extensive experience in new process development and transition from development to design and operation. Ian has built a profitable business in highly competitive international markets. He builds strong multi-function teams with international joint venture/partnering experience.

Iceland Exploration Update

The previously announced work programs in Iceland (See September 3 2019 Press Release), were not finished due to extreme weather conditions. With the arrival of spring and the Icelandic government allowing people to circulate for work as the COVID-19 confinement directives are being eased, the Company expects to be able to finish its Thor sampling program and send those samples to Canada for processing in May, with Vopna and Troll to follow in June-July. No resolution has yet materialized in regard to drilling the Thor property. Management expects to be able to drill this summer, but no certainty can be given in that regard.

Covid-19 Impacts Assessment

The Covid-19 pandemic impacts all of the Company’s Quebec operations. Quebec North-Shore exploration operations are halted until further notice from the government. The Company is using this period to prepare its intervention plan to meet with the First Nations on whose ancestral territory the projects lie. The current process requires 60 to 90 days to receive the relevant permits. It is currently impossible to know when this process will be initiated.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson”

Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson

President and CEO

About St-Georges

St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry.

The Company controls directly or indirectly, through rights of first refusal, all of the active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores for nickel on the Julie Nickel Project & for industrial minerals on Quebec’s North Shore and for lithium and rare metals in Northern Quebec and in the Abitibi region. 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.