Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX:AVL) has signed a binding “Letter of Intent” with U.S. company Coal Strategy Advisors LLC (CSA) to earn up to a 50% interest in the Will Scarlett Rare Earths Recovery Project located near Marion, Illinois.
The Will Scarlett project is a closed coal mine site where recent geochemical sampling has found elevated levels of rare earth elements and other metallic elements such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, manganese and zinc in mine waste materials. These rare earth elements, often called "technology metals," are used in cell phones, electric car batteries, satellites and other devices.
Testing at the Illinois mine has revealed high concentrations of rare earth elements, and, unlike most hardrock rare earth resources, no significant uranium or thorium has been detected. This makes it economical to recover rare earths at the site location.
The potential for economic recovery of rare earths from coal mine waste and fly ash has been receiving a lot of study in the United States. This has accelerated recently with the introduction of new U.S. government initiatives to reduce reliance on China as a source of these critical minerals.
The Trump administration has announced its intention to develop a new primary rare earth supply chain for North America relatively quickly and at a low cost compared to typical hard rock resources.
Avalon and CSA plan to proceed immediately with analytical and process test work to confirm concentration levels and the most efficient extraction process to recover the rare earths from the mine waste. Initial analytical test work is already in progress.
Avalon and CSA will enter a formal joint venture agreement once the full scope of work required to advance the project to initial production is determined. Avalon will also provide its technical expertise to help manage the exploration and development work at the site.
Avalon Advanced Materials has three other advanced stage projects, all 100%-owned. These are its Separation Rapids Lithium Project in Kenora, Ontario and East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Avalon is also advancing its Nechalacho Rare Earths asset in Canada’s Arctic region.
