| This Montrgie company is Gomga Resources (GMA, $ 0.16). It is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and has among its shareholders Desjardins , the Fonds de solidarit FTQ and the Caisse de dpt et placement du Qubec . |
| Geomega is a mineral exploration company that owns the rare earth deposit at Montviel, north of the town of Lebel-sur-Quvillon, in the region of Nord-du-Qubec. |
| Rare earths include a family of 15 elements, including neodymium and dysprosium. They are used to manufacture rechargeable batteries, wind turbines and other applications in the military, medical, scientific and aerospace sectors. |
| Quebec has never produced these strategic elements that Asian processors are striving for. |
| Before 2012 (when prices collapsed), there was great hope in industry and government for the potential of Quebec's soil rich in rare earths, according to the Department of Energy and Natural Resources . |
| For now, Geomega does not want to develop this deposit in Jamsie, because market conditions, starting with prices, are not currently favorable in this industry dominated by China. |
| The Boucherville SME relies instead on the commercialization of its SRI technology developed by Innord, a private subsidiary of Gomga. This technology recycles and processes rare earth permanent magnets found in electric cars and wind turbines. |
| In fact, its technology separates the rare earths (in this case, praseodymium, neodymium, terbium and dysprosium) contained in the permanent magnets, thanks to a process without organic solvent. |
| "We currently have a pilot mini-plant in operation, which is located at the National Research Council Canada in Boucherville," says Geomega President and CEO Kiril Mugerman. |
| The SME has two sources of supply to recycle rare earths: |
| magnets recovered at the end of their useful life, when dismantling a wind turbine, an electric vehicle or a hard disk. |
| residues produced by manufacturers of magnets and alloys. |
| Thus, from these two sources, Geomega recovers the rare earths to transform them into a new raw material which will in turn be bought by permanent magnet manufacturers. |
| Magnets that will end up in new wind turbines or electric cars, creating what is called a circular economy. |
| SME wants to build a demonstration plant |
| Geomega says that its technology is working and that it can move to its second stage, the construction of a $ 2 million demonstration plant. The demonstration plant will have a processing capacity of 1 ton per day and this can be increased to 1.5 tons per day or the equivalent of 500 tons of magnets per year. |
| "We are at the pre-project stage that will last two to three months," said Kiril Mugerman. The construction of the plant will take about 6 months, for production that could begin during the first half of 2020. " |
| The company has already identified a manufacturer of permanent magnets in Europe who will buy its production. |
| In the end, Geomega plans to process up to 2,000 tonnes of magnets a year, which could generate sales of $ 40 to $ 50 million at today's market price, says Geomega's boss. |
| The long-term strategy is to demonstrate that Quebec and North America can do the second large-scale transformation of rare earths. |
| Also, when the North American demand will be stronger for products resulting from the second local transformation of rare earths for permanent magnets, Geomega will then be able to consider exploiting its own deposit near Lebel-sur-Quevillon. |
| "I think with the growth in global demand for rare earths and permanent magnets, a mine could be a possibility in 10 years," he says. |