Mr. Jared Lazerson reports

MGX MINERALS EXTRACTS LITHIUM FROM OIL WASTEWATER

MGX Minerals Inc. has successfully extracted lithium from heavy oil waste water. Results are part of the continuing optimization for completion and deployment of a pilot plant in support of its 487,000-hectare Alberta lithium project.

The company owns a patent-pending process (U.S. provisional patent No. 62/419,011) for the extraction of lithium and other valuable minerals from oil brine. This technology is the first of its kind, reducing production time of lithium from brine by 99 per cent compared with conventional lithium brine production times that use solar evaporation. Process time is reduced from approximately 18 months to one day using MGX's process.

Heavy oil evaporator blowdown waste water (EBD) is one of the byproducts of steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) during production of heavy oil. EBD was specifically targeted as the waste water contains mid-level concentrations of lithium and has the potential to generate high environmental revenue based on current disposal costs. MGX and PurLucid Treatment Solutions are working to integrate their respective technologies and develop a pilot plant suitable for commercial use that will treat EBD to provide oil sand producers with additional environmentally friendly disposal options as well as recover valuable minerals such as lithium.

As reported by Dr. Preston McEachern of PurLucid:

• Starting EBD with Li concentration of 87 milligrams per litre;
• Final recovery of Li was 34.8 mg/l or 40 per cent;
• Li was lost in the initial softening of the EBD (18 per cent) when approximately 20 per cent of the fluid mass is lost due to removal of silica and other solids;
• 1 per cent of the Li was lost in the NaCl (sodium chloride) removal step;
• 16 per cent of the Li was lost in the magnesium removal step;
• 4 per cent of Li was lost in the CaCl2 (calcium chloride) removal step;
• 21 per cent of the total Li remained in the final brine; this portion of lithium has a high probability of recovery by further reaction or during a second pass;
• Li was crystallized as lithium carbonate;
• Other primary recoveries of minerals in total were 83 per cent and calcium 100 per cent;
• The final brine still contained high concentrations of sodium, potassium and boron indicating where optimization will focus on;
• Additional applicable data were collected for the potential extraction of boron, bromine, magnesium and potassium;
• The treatment process removed all suspended solids, 99.97 per cent of the hydrocarbons and reduced scale-forming ions such as silica to levels suitable for reuse in steam-generating processes.

Purlucid investment agreement

MGX and PurLucid have agreed to extend their investment schedule by 30 days pending receipt of a grant application decision. A final decision on the application may be imminent and both parties have agreed to delay crystallizing the acquisition valuation for 30 days. MGX will continue to finance development under its engineering and integration agreement with PurLucid whereby PurLucid has been engaged by MGX to optimize and construct a pilot plant for its lithium extraction process and integrate this system with PurLucid's patented filtration systems for the removal of residual oil from production waste water. The front-end water treatment portion of the pilot plant is complete and, upon completion of optimization testing, the mineral extraction system will be integrated and deployed. Under the terms of the investment agreement, MGX has the right to acquire up to 100 per cent of PurLucid.

Qualified persons

The technical portions of this press release were prepared by Dr. Preston McEachern, chief executive officer of PurLucid Treatment Solutions Inc., and have been reviewed by Andris Kikauka, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for MGX Minerals. Mr. Kikauka is a non-independent qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 standards.

About MGX Minerals

The company operates lithium, magnesium and silicon projects throughout British Columbia and Alberta. MGX recently released a maiden National Instrument 43-101-compliant mineral resource estimate for its Driftwood Creek magnesium project, which outlined eight million tonnes grading 43.31 per cent magnesium oxide. In January the company received a 20-year mining lease for Driftwood Creek. Additionally, the company is the largest lithium brine landholder in Canada, controlling nearly 487,000 hectares of land representing over one million barrels of brine production per day.

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