Imperial Mining Group Ltd. ("Imperial" or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has started work on the optimization of its mineral processing and hydrometallurgical flowsheet for scandium and rare earths, at SGS Lakefield, to support the preparation of a Prefeasibility Study of the Crater Lake Project in northeastern Québec. The work is supported by a $500,000 grant from Le Consortium de recherche et d’innovation en transformation métallique (CRITM), which is one of the nine industrial research sector groups (RSRIs) in Québec. CRITM is funded by the Ministère des Ressources Naturelles du Québec. It is a network dedicated to industrial research and offers companies strategic support and financial assistance to carry out their research projects. In December 2022, Imperial applied for funding under CRITM’s Critical and Strategic Minerals program.
Jean-François Pouliot, General Manager of CRITM : “The CRITM is proud to be able to support research projects in the critical and strategic minerals (CSM) sectors, particularly for innovative companies such as Imperial Mining Group." This support is made possible through the research and development support program for the extraction, processing, and recycling of CSM, which is part of the Plan québécois de valorisation des minéraux critiques et stratégiques (PQVMCS) 2020-2025. We would like to emphasize the importance of research and development support for the competitiveness of companies that will actively contribute to positioning Québec as a significant player in the sector.”
President and CEO of Imperial, Pierre Neatby, “We are proud to be a member of the CRITM network and are thankful for the financial support for the development of the flowsheet for the extraction of scandium and rare earths from our flagship Crater Lake Project in northeastern Québec. Governments need to play a supportive role in developing critical metals, such as scandium and rare earths, and at the provincial level, Québec has shown this support. We look forward to continuing our partnership with SGS on the Crater Lake flowsheet, as we continue to advance the project, building on the successful Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) issued in July 2022.”
A 600 kg representative bulk sample from Crater Lake was shipped from Sept-Îles, Qc, to the laboratory of SGS Canada Inc. in Lakefield, On. This 600 kg sample is part of a 15-tonne bulk sample from Crater Lake that Imperial has stored in Sept-Îles to complete the development of its flowsheet.
Director, Technical Services (Hydrometallurgy), Metallurgy & Consulting, Niels Verbaan: “I am very proud to work with Imperial Mining Group on this optimization project, and I look forward to continuing our working relationship with the entire Imperial Mining team on the development of the Scandium Crater Lake deposit.”
Imperial is pleased to work with SGS Canada Inc., which has played an integral part in developing its flowsheet. The results of the pilot work being undertaken by SGS will be an important component of the data requirements for issuing a NI 43-101 compliant Prefeasibility Study.
Source: https://imperialmgp.com/