MGX, UBC to develop silicon-based battery anode

MGX Minerals Inc. [XMG-CSE; MGXMF-OTCQB; 1MG-FSE] on Thursday December 20 announced a partnership with the University of British Columbia to develop a metallurgical silicon based anode for high energy lithium-ion batteries.

MGX said it is financing a research consortium with UBC to develop a low-cost and scalable method for fabricating a silicon-based anode to improve the energy density of lithium-ion batteries.

The two-year research program will focus on fabricating nanostructured silicon using low-cost metallurgical silicon as a feedstock, and compositing nanostructured silicon with commercial graphite to develop a high-performance silicon anode.

The purpose of the research is to replace the graphite anode with silicon and complete a hybrid in the short term, which will not require retooling.

The ultimate goal is to enable next-generation lithium-ion batteries capable of quadrupling energy density from current 100 watt-hours per kilogram up to 400 watt hours per kilogram for use in long-range electric vehicles and grid storage.

The research and development project will be led by Dr. Jian Liu, assistant professor at the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan.

MGX also has a portfolio of British Columbia silicon projects, including the Koot Project, which is located north of Cranbrook. The others include the Wonah and recently acquired Gibraltar properties. MGX has said it is investigating the potential to source high-grade silica as the feedstock to be used in industrial silicon metal and solar silicon applications.

Solar, combined with mass storage systems such as that currently under development by the company’s ZincNyx Energy Solutions Inc. unit, serves to replace or augment diesel generators, as well as having broad applications in energy storage for residential and commercial grid load balancing and backup power for industrial sites, telecommunications, large scale computer server arrays and military bases.

Back in July, 2018, the company said metallurgical test work had commenced on mineralized material from the recently acquired Gibraltar silicon project for assessment of upgrading to standard and solar grade silicon metal.

The company also said drilling programs conducted during the summer of 2018 were designed to define NI 43-101-compliant resource estimates at all three projects.

MGX Minerals is a diversified resource company that is focused on the development of large-scale industrial mineral portfolios in specific commodities and jurisdictions that will fuel the new energy economy.

The company says it is uniquely positioned to pursue this strategy as it holds significant interests in lithium, magnesium, and silicon assets throughout North America.

On Thursday, MGX shares rose 4.48% or $0.015 to 35 cents. The 52-week range is $1.96 and 30 cents.

MGX recently said it is poised to generate revenue from technology that the company says allows for the extraction of lithium from waste water produced by Alberta oil sands operations.

MGX said installation and testing of the NFLI-5 commercial scale rapid lithium extraction system that has been developed in the Calgary laboratories of MGX’s engineering partner PurLucid Treatment Solutions Inc. is now complete.