Important economic project for the Asbestos region - Alliance Magnesium will build a pilot factory in the Asbestos region using a new technology for producing magnesium

ASBESTOS, QC, March 3, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - The Alliance Magnesium company is very proud to announce that it will be building a pilot factory in the Asbestos region in order to confirm the economic viability of a new technology for producing clean magnesium. The factory, which represents the first stage of a project that could ultimately generate $500 million of investments and create 300 new jobs, will be built thanks to the granting of financial assistance from the Quebec government.

"With a pilot factory, we will be testing a new clean process for producing the metal from tailings of serpentine rock from the Jeffrey mine. It is thanks to the unrelenting support and work of the Asbestos community that we are launching a large-scale project today that could capitalize on the entire region's resources," said Dr. Joël Fournier, President and CEO of Alliance Magnesium.

"We are very happy to obtain such significant help from the Quebec government today. For us, this pilot factory stage is essential before proceeding to the other stages of the project, because we will be able to operate the different equipment and reproduce the actual magnesium production steps," he added.

The Minister responsible for the Estrie region and Member for Saint-François, Dr. Réjean Hébert, was present in Asbestos today to announce the news. The awarding of an interest-free loan for $2.25 million from the Economic Diversification Fund for the Regional County Municipality of Les Sources will allow Alliance Magnesium to go forward with a $10 million investment project.

The company foresees eventually operating a plant with a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes a year of metallic magnesium. Alliance Magnesium has planned three stages in its development program, namely a pilot factory, a precommercial factory, and a commercial factory. The current project consists of building a pilot factory with a production capacity of 25 kilograms a day in order to confirm the different elements of the technology.

"Thanks to the use of the latest technologies, we have significantly improved the manufacturing process compared to our predecessors. Our process, in line with sustainable development, will allow us to substantially reduce the environmental footprint of the magnesium industry," pointed out Dr. Fournier.

He concluded, "By working in partnership with the City of Asbestos and the other economic and social players in the region, we will produce an interesting alternative way of reducing greenhouse gases for the entire automobile and transportation industry. At the moment, the whole world is hungry for magnesium and we have to seize this opportunity."

Incorporated in 2003, Alliance Magnesium is a privately-owned Canadian company that has developed a patented electrolysis clean technology for the production of magnesium from serpentine rock. The approach used by the company constitutes an important innovation compared to methods used by magnesium producers around the world.

SOURCE: Alliance Magnésium

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