Mr. Rodney Irwin reports
RUSSIAN SPECIAL TECHNICAL EXPORT LICENCE GRANTED TO STANS ENERGY CORP
Stans Energy Corp. has received a special export licence from the Federal Service for
Technical and Export Control (FSTEC) of the Russian Federation.
This special export licence allows for the export and use of key
cracking technology by Stans Energy, which was developed by the
company's Russian contractor, the Russian Research Institute of
Chemical Technology (VNIIHT). This cracking technology is vital to
production at the company's heavy rare earth project, Kutessay II.
Cracking is an important step in the production of a concentrate free of
radioactive and gangue minerals.
VNIIHT has successfully tested a contained, environmentally friendly
process for extracting thorium, radium and fluorine from Kutessay II
rare earth concentrates. In addition to this achievement, VNIIHT's new
cracking method yielded a greater recovery of rare earths from
historical concentrates -- 95 per cent at the impurity removal stage and 93 per cent at
the nitrate creation stage. The final product of these tests was a 98-per-cent
pure combined RE oxide (REO) nitrate solution.
The concentrate produced by the new planned plant No. 1 will be further
refined through solvent extraction into individual rare earth oxides and
then into pure metals. VNIIHT is currently working on new proprietary
technology that will facilitate this individual separation and has
already submitted three of five volumes of the separation report to
Stans. The export licence for these reports was granted by FSTEC upon
completion of report No. 1 through a simplified process due to the absence
of nuclear materials technology involved.
Technical experts at Kashka rare earth processing (KRP) will now begin
optimizing the engineering for the required flowsheet for the cracking
facility, which is planned to be the new plant No. 1 at KRP. Continuing legal
issues within Kyrgyzstan are preventing Stans in proceeding with pilot
testing of the new technology due to continuing work injunctions at the
mine site.
"This licence grant represents the culmination of a very complicated
approval process due to the nature of the technology and the sensitive
features associated with it. I would like to first thank the officials
at FSTEC along with the experts from ROSATOM, who provided their opinions
on the clearance of this new technology. I would also like to thank the
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for its co-operation in assisting
the company on this matter. This co-operation reflects the international
collaboration necessary to develop supply chains as complex as those
required for rare earth elements. Stans Energy is fortunate to be a
recipient of strong government support from both the Russian Federation
and Canada," states Rodney Irwin, interim president and chief executive officer.
We seek Safe Harbor.
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