Medallion Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:MDL, OTCQB:MLLOF) has announced the launch of a new strategic plan to position it in the near term as a technology leader within the industries essential to the generation, storage, and efficient use of clean energy.
The company said key parts of the plan include a strengthened executive leadership team, up-listing to Nasdaq Capital Markets, and rebranding as Medallion Innovations Corp. to better reflect its future direction.
Medallion said its focus has been to identify and develop innovative technologies for the rare earth element (REE) industry that, when compared with incumbent technologies, are lower cost and reduce the environmental and social impacts of production.
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"Medallion is setting the course for a strong and positive impact in the supply of materials and technologies for the energy transition,” president and CEO Mark Saxon said in a statement. “Our recent successful partnerships in the REE sector, based on deep industry knowledge and connections, have laid the groundwork for where we see many value-add opportunities. The proposed business and management changes deliver the opportunity to accelerate in line with the renewable energy and EV (electric vehicle) markets.”
Medallion said implementation of the new strategic plan is intended to enhance its existing REE processing technology portfolio by identifying, incubating and gaining exclusive rights to the commercialization of additional innovative technology platforms across the entire REE value chain and broadening its focus to include other high-performance materials. It said its technology portfolio will continue to facilitate the production of materials, deployment of processes, and/or generation of essential data for the clean energy transition.
The clean energy transition, involving the widespread generation of renewable energy and the electrification of transport is now demonstrating dramatic growth that is at risk because of weaknesses in global supply chains, the company said.
“Medallion's new strategic plan reflects the global shift from fossil fuel-based to a minerals-based economy centred on 'friendly nations' and is intended to position the company for better access to capital, a larger playing field, and importantly the ability to build a team with the essential skills and experience in technology development and commercialization,” the company added.
Up-listing to the Nasdaq Capital Markets is also expected to significantly strengthen the company's profile and increase the capacity for US and international shareholders to invest in the REE and clean energy technology sectors, Medallion said.
Upon completion of the Nasdaq up-listing, Alfredo Ramos Plasencia will join the company as CEO and director, while Dr Kurt Forrester will join the management team as chief technology officer and continue to serve as a director. Saxon, the current CEO, will continue as a director and assume a business development role focused on mining industry opportunities.
"I am excited to be entrusted with the CEO role at Medallion at this key time in the company's history,” Ramos said. “My experience in the identification, incubation and commercialization of breakthrough technologies matches well with the new strategic plan. Medallion's past investment in REEs and methodology in identifying new investment opportunities provides an excellent platform for future development.”
Referring to a previous announcement, Medallion noted that it has engaged Chardan Capital Markets LLC to advise on an up-listing and simultaneous financing. The up-listing to the Nasdaq is conditional on Nasdaq accepting its listing application, including its plan to meet the initial listing requirements, and a registration statement being declared effective by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It said it is preparing to file the registration statement on Form F-1 before its annual general and special meeting of shareholders on May 27, 2022.
The company said it has also begun the Nasdaq listing application process and has reserved the trading symbol "MDL" for trading on NasdaqCM after the up-list.
Medallion Resources has developed a proprietary process and related business model to achieve low-cost, near-term, REE production by exploiting monazite. Monazite is a rare-earth phosphate mineral that is widely available as a by-product of mineral sand mining operations.
Furthermore, Medallion has recently licensed from Purdue Research Foundation an innovative REE separation technology developed by Purdue University which can be utilized by Medallion and sub-licensed by Medallion to third-party REE producers.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com