St-Georges Eco-Mining Subsidiaries: SX Metallurgy

Taking today’s challenges and turning them into solutions through innovation

As a means of taking a more focused approach, St-Georges Eco-Mining created the subsidiary, SX Metallurgy and appointed Enrico Di Cesare the VP of Research and Development of SX to be the President and CEO of the company. Enrico has a wealth of experience in mining and metallurgy and is one of the most respected metallurgists in Canada. Over the years he has built a network of strategic partnerships with labs like COALIA, CIMMS, COREM and universities, which have allowed the company to move their tech forward without compromising their proprietary process.

SX Metallurgy’s main focus is to take a greener approach to the processing of metals and minerals contained in materials like hard rock, clay’s and batteries. The company continuously adapts to the challenges of different resources by converting waste materials into saleable by products, thus allowing for a more efficient and streamlined process that can add significant value to any project. By reducing the mining and processing of materials and focusing on value added by-products, we can significantly reduce operating costs and the overall carbon footprint of almost any project.

The company is also developing a process for spodumene, lepidolite, nickel and cobalt with a focus on a greener and more economical approaches to what is currently used in the industry. Additionally, R & D initiatives around Nickel and Cobalt will tie into the future of mineral processing and unlocking new mineral resources around the world. It also compliments the battery recycling initiatives set forth by the formation of EVSX.

Initial tests conducted on an array of lithium-ion batteries have been successful in confirming that the selective leach, conducted with its proprietary blend of acids, allows for the recovery of the lithium, nickel and cobalt that are found as a coating on aluminum foil in the core of the batteries. The Company’s metallurgical team was able to leach 99.99% of the lithium in just 5 minutes at low temperature and more than 99% of the nickel and cobalt contained in the batteries. Furthermore, the aluminum foil used to hold the different metals in the batteries’ core remains intact and can be recycled.   So far, the company’s scientists are comfortable that the results obtained on these metals are repeatable and should scale. Initial lithium test results have been in line with expectations and require additional tests at scale prior to disclosure.

Tesla, General Motors (GM), Ford, Toyota, and Nissan batteries have been dismantled at the Company’s contracted pilot plant facility, CIMMS, under the supervision of qualified chemists and metallurgists. Enrico Di Cesare, established the protocol and will be supervising the process on an ongoing basis. The batteries are dismantled manually, and the cores were immersed in St-Georges’ proprietary leach solution for 30 minutes. The Company expects to optimize and reduce this exposure duration with the aim of bringing it closer to the 5 min leach time they have executed with the Nevada Lithium in Clays. Aluminium was taken out of the solution in its solid form and set aside. No test for residues was conducted on the aluminium in the preliminary tests. Metals were then targeted for recuperation in solution. The powders obtained were tested on-site and sent for independent testing by CIMMS.

Characterization work on Nickel-Cadmium domestic batteries has also confirmed that they can be processed with the same technology. Large-scale domestic battery testing will be conducted in March to confirm scalability. If the results are as expected, this will allow the Company to disrupt the domestic battery market and become a major source of battery-grade cadmium and nickel.

Currently, St Georges is working with strategic partners, Innovation & Développement Manicouagan, or ID Manic. to conduct a feasibility study for a battery recycling center in Baie Comeau with the goal of recycling batteries before the end of 2021. To expedite the process, the services of additional professional expert firms have also been retained to handle permitting, governmental relations, port operations, international trade, First Nations relations, and community communications.  One of these firms is a consulting firm with extensive experience with the EV batteries industrial cycle. Their mandate encompasses representation to the different governments involved with the projects and potential interactions with international public and private partners, suppliers, and clients.

For more information about our lithium in clay and battery recycling process and patents, please follow the link below.

Patent Abstract

A process for the selective recovery of lithium values from feedstock is provided. The process includes concentration by one or more of air classification and flotation; selective leaching to remove Mg, Ca or Na formations; and leaching/sonication with an acid. Further, a method of beneficiating a lithium-containing ore is provided treating an aqueous pulp of the lithium-containing ore with a conditioning reagent; and floating, lithium values fraction of the lithium-containing ore from gangue slimes, wherein the treating improves the selectivity of an anionic collector to one or more of spodumene and said lithium values. Further, a process for the selective recovery of lithium from lithium ion batteries is provided.

https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2020146956&_cid=P22-KI5RRO-91382-1