MGX Minerals Inc has announced that a review is underway of a conceptual engineering study for the production of magnesium for its Driftwood Creek Magnesium project.
Due to an increase in the price of magnesium and related special application of magnesium as a solid rocket fuel, MGX has begun a review of the report, commissioned by the company and generated by Hatch Engineering in 2018.
Findings consist of a required US magnesium market price of US$4,000-US$6,000 per tonne magnesium (Mg) for positive economics to be achieved, the company said.
READ: MGX Minerals announces preliminary magnesium fuel specification parameters for Mg/CO2-type rockets
MGX noted that the consideration for value-added specialized magnesium products such as rocketry was not considered in the study.
The company also said the 160-page report confirms no technical or economic issues beyond spot price using known technology. Due to the significant increase in magnesium price (reaching US$11,000-plus per tonne in September 2021) and advances in purpose and application for magnesium solid fuel rockets, the project is now under review as a magnesium metal project versus solely as a magnesium oxide project. The report remains confidential for competition-related reasons.
Mg/CO2 engines -- which utilize powdered magnesium as a solid fuel and carbon dioxide (CO2) as an oxidant -- have been primarily studied for Mars exploration, ascent, and return to Earth by NASA, due to the abundance of CO2 on the Red Planet. The calculated specific impulse of powder rocket engines is higher than that of traditional propulsion systems.
MGX said it has identified a potential research and development partner with an available test site to provide design, production, and testing of a large-scale Mg/CO2 type rocket potentially utilizing Mg fuel from its Driftwood Creek Magnesium project.
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