Important to know In the REE space, the word ‘proprietary’ is typi-
cally code for “a forced, unconventional route of
mineral processing and metallurgy”. In my opin-
ion, this represents a large red flag and I best ad-
vise investors to at least proceed with caution.
Given the material change in stock price related
to the proprietary REE separation technology re-
cently disclosed by Geomega Resources Inc. (see
new releases dated January 15 and February 25,
2014), I would like to break down exactly what
this news really means in my opinion:
1.
It is
proprietary technology
and in the REE
space
that typically means you have no alterna-
tive
, and that puts you at a large disadvantage out
of the gate.
2.
Free flow electrophoresis
is the name of the
general technique being used here, even if the
current variance is “proprietary”, and owned by
Geomega and the operator Dr. Pouya Hajiani. It
is generally thought that electrophoresis is an
expensive technique and so, as all things come
down to costs, it will be of interest to see exactly
what the costs of this process might be.
3.
Test results are based on
synthetic mixtures
using only a couple REEs, meaning only an ide
-
al mixture is being tested as opposed to actual
mineralized material from a deposit. Further, as
only a couple REEs are in the synthetic mixture
tested, it means the rest of the REEs (that would
naturally be present as well) have theoretically al-
ready been removed (i.e. partial REE separation is
inferred to be required prior).
4.
Prototype laboratory equipment
is used,
which means that it is not only bench scale but
a larger scale is not even possible at this point as
the equipment does not exist (prototype = time
to develop into commercial scale use). Therefore,
this technology could not be included in an eco-
nomic study until it is developed and GeoMega
has stated it will not be included in its PEA base
case (sees news release dated January 15, 2014).
5.
This final point may be the “coup de grce”, in
that if this technique does work (i.e. a process
that is effective and economic), there is a signifi-
cant potential that it will be licenced and prov
-
en successful when applied to other ore bodies.
Simply put, it really makes no sense at all to sug-
gest that this specific ore body (Montviel) is the
only feed stock that would benefit from this tech-
nique. As such, this may then make the process,
as it applies to Geomega, moot. Thus, all that has
been done is to detail a technique that will argu-
ably work better and more economically with any
deposit that has higher grades, better distribution
and larger tonnage.
In conclusion, this technology will most likely not
aid in the development of Geomega’s Montviel De-
posit.