Alliance Magnesium announced that it has received enough funding for its commercial demonstration plant for magnesium production in Quebec.
The facility has a capacity of up to 18,000 tonnes per year and will produce primary magnesium ingots from serpentine and secondary magnesium tailings from recycling scraps from the metal processing industry.
To date, most of the world’s magnesium production comes from China. It is largely used by the automotive industry to reduce vehicle weight
“The construction of the plant is made possible by the shareholding of the Government of Quebec ($13.4 million), the Japanese company Marubeni ($16.7 million), Fondaction ($10 million) and the company’s current shareholders,” Alliance said in a media statement. “In addition, a senior loan of $50 million was signed with an American financial Institution and a loan of $12.5 million from the Quebec government. Sustainable Development Technologies Canada and Transition Énergétique Québec are also part of the funding with a financial contribution of respectively $12 million and $3 million.”
Overall, investments add up to $145 million.
The plant is expected to employ 100 people during the construction phase -which should start this spring- and create 102 jobs once it becomes operative.
“This innovative project uses the circular economy to develop new magnesium manufacturing processes. In demand in the automotive and aerospace industries, magnesium is one of the solutions favoring lighter structures in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec’s Minister of Economy and Innovation, said in the media brief. “Alliance Magnesium is committed to fully comply with the government directives that will be issued after the BAPE recommendations concerning the safe recovery of asbestos mine tailings for the subsequent stages. I am delighted that the government’s support will make it possible to begin construction work on the casting centre this spring, which will produce magnesium from recycled metal.”