Geothermal power plant in Iceland (source)
Today, MGX Minerals Inc. made a striking announcement of having solved another major energy problem globally. Together with its technology partner PurLucid Treatment Solutions Inc. they have developed a novel filtration technology for the purification of geothermal brines and the associated extraction of minerals and metals, including lithium, magnesium and gold.
Most importantly, MGX and Purlucid have developed an environmentally friendly, proprietary, low energy, low cost process for ultra-high temperature geothermal brines. This technological breakthrough will open doors globally to the geothermal sector, or as MGX President & CEO Jared Lazerson commented in today´s landmark press-release:
“We believe in investing in technology and innovative processes that disrupt how the energy industry thinks and operates. Our newest technological advancement offers yet another first-mover opportunity into a large and often stagnant sector hungry for new ideas.”
Geothermal power plant in New Zealand (source)
According to today´s news:
"Similar to oilfield brines, it is well known that geothermal brines contain concentrated amounts of metals and dissolved salts. The presence of these impurities, combined with the necessity to reduce brine temperature in order for traditional filtration to occur, is a large industry barrier known as scaling that severely reduces flow and heat transfer of geothermal heat exchangers. This in turn negatively impacts the long-term operating performance and in many cases eliminates the economic viability of these systems. Geothermal brines are known to contain lithium, magnesium and other minerals and metals including gold.
After an initial period of research and development, MGX and engineering partner PurLucid have developed a proprietary, low energy design process that removes these scale-forming ions and dissolved salts while not requiring a reduction in brine temperatures for filtration to occur. This process utilizes PurLucid’s existing patented and exclusively licensed replaceable membrane skin layers (RSL) filtration system, originally developed by David Bromley Engineering, which creates highly charged pore spaces to force dissolved ions into colloidal particles, simultaneously filtered down to 0.01 microns. The RSL is designed specifically to foul and is removed and replaced in situ, resulting in 100% flux rate recovery.
The ultrafiltration can then be followed by a patent-pending membrane distillation system in projects where heat is available. The matrix is composed of materials capable of operating at up to 700 degrees Celsius. Geothermal temperatures rarely exceed 250 degrees Celsius.
This new technology also represents an environmentally friendly alternative for geothermal brine disposition, which is largely limited to non-treated reinjection. Similar to MGX’s existing wastewater treatment and rapid petrolithium recovery units, MGX and PurLucid are conducting engineering studies to fabricate treatment systems capable of being integrated into existing geothermal infrastructure or incorporated as standalone systems for mineral and metals extraction.
MGX currently owns a 34% interest in Purlucid and has the right to acquire 100% through successive future investments. MGX owns the global rights to the minerals extraction technology jointly developed. The intellectual property is patent pending with core water treatment technology covered under a variety of patents and licenses patents."
Bottom Line
While MGX is on track to commercially deploy its lithium extraction and wastewater purification systems in the oil and gas sector shortly (120 m3 unit is near completion and the first 1200 m3 unit is in fabrication), the company today made a stunning announcement of becoming a first-mover also into the geothermal sector, which is a multi-billion-dollar business looking for ways to not only treat its brines environmentally friendly but to also add value by extracting the metals that come along it. Thanks to this novel technology solution, many unfeasible geothermal projects worldwide could be made economically viable. This has great potential to change an industry as we know it and MGX is ready to capitalize on it.
Company Details
MGX Minerals Inc.
#303 - 1080 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 2T1
Phone: +1 604 681 7735
Email: jared@mgxminerals.com
www.mgxminerals.com
Shares Issued & Outstanding: 77,782,417
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Canadian Symbol (CSE): XMG
Current Price: $0,94 CAD (11/28/2017)
Market Capitalization: $73 Million CAD
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German Symbol / WKN (Frankfurt): 1MG / A12E3P
Current Price: €0.631 EUR (11/28/2017)
Market Capitalization: €49 Million EUR
Previous Coverage
Report #28 “MGX Minerals Commences Development of the World‘s First Petrolithium Field“
Report #27 “Canadian Government Backs MGX Minerals‘ Petrolithium Cleantech“
Report #26 “MGX Minerals Solves the Magnesium Problem of the Lithium Industry“
Report #25 “Hard-Rock Lithium Exposure for MGX“
Report #24 “One of the Largest Initial Oil Estimates in US History“
Report #23 “MGX starts Petrolithium pilot plant to deliver hard facts for strategic partners“
Report #22 “Time to bet: Sprott takes a position in MGX“
Report #21 “Petrolithium: First Come First Served“
Report #20 “Successful Independent Verification of the MGX Lithium Extraction Technology“
Report #19 “MGX to Drill the World‘s First PetroLithium Well in Utah“
Report #18 “MGX Reports Upgrading of Lithium Brine from 67 to 1600 ppm Lithium“
Report #17 “MGX technology nominated for prestigious Katerva Award, the Nobel Prize of Sustainability“
Report #16 “Unconventional oil play legend Marc Bruner to take MGX and PetroLithium to the next level“
Report #15 “Total Conviction: MGX forms PetroLithium Corp. to expand into the US oilfield brine markets“
Report #14: “MGX Extracts Lithium from Oil Wastewater - Begins Monumental Integration with Big Oil“
Report #13 "MGX Partners with Oil Major on Lithium Brine, New Energy Industry Facing Fundamental Shift“
Report #12 "Game Changing Potential: MGX Minerals‘ Pilot Plant for Rapid Production of Lithium Nears Completion“
Report #11 "MGX assays 34 g/t gold from surface sampling in British Columbia“
Report #10 “Official: MGX owns magnesium worth multi-billions of dollars and starts pilot plant shortly“
Report #9 “One of the world‘s largest lithium resources on the horizon?“
Report #8 “Ready for significant lithium brine work in Alberta“
Report #7 “At the forefront of Alberta‘s lithium brine riches“
Report #6 “Pioneering Lithium in Alberta: MGX Minerals Teams Up“
Report #5 “Time to Put a Lithium Production Process in Place“
Report #4 “MGX Minerals Taps Into Canada‘s Potentially Largest High-Grade Lithium Resources“
Report #3 “MGX Minerals Receives Mining Lease for 20 years (in British Columbia!)“
Report #2 “MGX Minerals Accelerates Towards Production“
Report #1 “MGX Minerals Plans To Enter The Magnesium Market“
Disclaimer: Please read the full disclaimer within the full research report as a PDF (here) as fundamental risks and conflicts of interest exist. The author hold a long position in MGX Minerals Inc. and is being paid a monthly retainer from Zimtu Capital Corp., which company also holds a long position in MGX Minerals Inc.