Update 2021-10-18 08:00 ET - News Release
(via TheNewswire)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - TheNewswire - October 18, 2021 - Western Magnesium Corporation (TSXV:WMG ) ( Frankfurt:3WM ) ( OTC:MLYF) (“Western Magnesium” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that commissioning of the continuous pilot reactor is now complete. All electrical, instrumentation, and vacuum testing are complete, and the vessel is now ready to receive feed. The equipment used in this test will verify that our materials of construction are correct and confirm other very valuable data for our continuous operation that will follow after these tests are completed. Preparation of feed material is now underway with the operation of the reactor to follow.
Management’s goal in creating this new reactor is to develop a new generation of technology that we will include in the current commercial pilot plant and future facilities. This new reactor that is being tested at our partner facilities in Fort St. John, British Columbia is being developed not only for the commercial pilot plant which is currently under construction and on track in the Lower Mainland, British Columbia , but also for the 100,000 metric tonne commercial plant being built in Ohio. Once testing is complete in Fort St. John and magnesium metal is produced as part of the test, we will have successfully developed the next generation reactor which will be faster and more economical in the production of magnesium metal.
Executive President & CEO, Sam Ataya says, “I’m excited to have the commissioning process finally behind us and I’m looking forward to our next steps. Not only will the new reactor be able to produce magnesium metal at our Fort St. John facility, but we will be able to expand production once our main commercial pilot plant is fully assembled and operational. These two separate events are coming to fruition in a timely manner according to management’s expectations.”
Executive Chairman, Ed Lee states, “The operation and results of this reactor will collect and confirm data from the various advanced technologies contained within it. This new reactor will be incorporated into the design of the commercial pilot plant and the units for the Harrison County, Ohio production plant.”
Separately, our commercial pilot plant construction is underway and progressing well. Factory Acceptance Testing has begun for the electrical and instrumentation equipment. Structural steel installation is ongoing, and the remainder of the equipment is scheduled to arrive once the steel work is complete. Plant wide commissioning will commence once construction is completed.
Management feels confident that we are on track with our timeline for the assembly, testing and ultimately the production of magnesium metal. Once more, as management has stated, the purpose of the commercial pilot plant is to produce magnesium metal for the industries that we are currently in discussions with to certify our metal so we may move toward finalizing purchase and joint venture agreements.
“We are now close to not only producing next generation technology which will be incorporated into current and future designs that will bring efficiency and increase profitability to the Company, but our commercial pilot plant is close to final assembly and ultimately the production of magnesium metal. This is truly exciting as not only will we be producing metal from our commercial pilot plant but at the same time we are developing next generation technology which will be incorporated and will continue our competitive edge both economically and environmentally, over foreign producers”, said Sam Ataya, Executive President and CEO.