Western Magnesium Corporation (CVE:WMG) (OTCMKTS:MLYF) has reached a major milestone in its plans to produce low-cost, green magnesium metal, revealing it had now completed building the key reactor.
This has brought forward the company's previous timeline, which was that it aimed to produce the metal from the pilot plant in Canada by the end of 2021. Now, production is set for the purposes of testing, certification, and distribution within the next 90 days, the company said.
Shares in the company shot up over 21% in Canada on the day to C$0.20 following the news.
READ: Western Magnesium announces closing of first tranche of non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of C$679,04
"This exciting change in production timeline, will coincide with the opening of our Washington, DC head office, which will better facilitate discussions with end user clients in various industries, to start the process of our metal certification, which will culminate in purchase order agreements," noted the company's CEO Sam Ataya.
Executive chairman Ed Lee added: "Initial metal production will allow management to work closely with end users in the automotive, aerospace, and ecofriendly technology companies and the Department of Defense to assess the amount of metal needed for their assembly line manufacturing, and the form in which they will need the metal."
Western Magnesium's research has led to it developing a proprietary technology, which can generate magnesium metal with low labor, high automation, low energy and zero toxic by-products and waste.
It says its continuous silicothermic process means the company can be price competitive, scale up easily, and be environmentally friendly.
The company noted that the new "furnace will be the first of its kind, and a major step towards being able to operate a silicothermic reactor system from open atmosphere to a sealed vacuum space on a continuous basis".
"This is very disruptive technology with controllable parameters from an efficiency, energy, and environmental standpoint. A continuous internally heated reduction furnace of this nature coupled with the proprietary Western Magnesium condenser will allow for maximum continuous production from pit or stockpile, to magnesium metal, to the end-user in timely manner. A process that assembly line manufacturers have longed for," it added.
Magnesium has a range of uses and is a composite metal, such that it is made to use aluminum and titanium. It is essential in a range of industries, including automotive, aviation, energy and military.
It is a third lighter than aluminum, 60% lighter than titanium and 75% lighter than steel.
---Updates for share price---
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com