WASHINGTON, D.C. – TheNewswire – May 12, 2022 – Executive President and CEO of Western Magnesium Corporation, (TSXV:WMG.V); (OTC:MLYF); (Frankfurt-3WM) (“Western Magnesium” or the “Company”), Sam Ataya appeared on Fox Business this week to discuss the importance of domestic metal manufacturing and highlight magnesium’s importance as a “super metal.”
During the televised interview on Making Money with Charles Payne, Payne referred to the current hazardous environmental practices of producing magnesium metal overseas and asked Ataya what specifically is changing manufacturing processes now. Ataya answered, “Technology is changing everything. If we invest in technology and look at the long-term view, we can do the same thing the rest of the world is doing except better and within our own borders.”
Western Magnesium is a leading innovator of clean industrial technology capable of re-establishing production of magnesium metal in America. In providing a secure and stable supply chain for domestic industry and the U.S. military, Western Magnesium will be a key contributor to American national security while enabling the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in our domestic manufacturing industry.
The Company has recently completed construction of its commercial pilot plant which will begin producing magnesium metal at the end this month. This technology, developed over the last 10 years, will further enable a large-scale industrial manufacturing facility capable of producing over 100,000 metric tonnes annually. The Company intends to break ground on this inaugural facility in Harrison County, Ohio in 2023.
These important developments come as Senate legislation is introduced which is aimed at increasing domestic production of critical minerals, in particular the bipartisan bill from Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) which seeks to eliminate dependence on foreign producers. Lankford warns, “It’s vitally important to solve our dependence on China for minerals because we use these materials daily in everything from cellphones and batteries to military gear and medical devices”.
Magnesium is a good example of the dangers of our reliance on China. This element, critical to the production of aluminum and to domestic automotive and aviation manufacturing, saw a nearly four-fold price increase when China arbitrarily cut production last year. For decades now, America has outsourced production of magnesium to China because of the extremely high environmental costs. However, as Sam Ataya mentioned in his interview on Making Money with Charles Payne, “We are about to show the world how new technology and production techniques can protect the environment, create jobs, teach American workers valuable skills and protect U.S. national security.” Ataya added, “America needs its own reliable supply of magnesium, and legislation brought forward by Sen. Lankford will go a long way to helping our Company and others bring about a renaissance in U.S. production of this and other critical minerals.”