Danville-based Alliance Magnesium, the company aiming to extract magnesium from the tailings of the former Jeffrey Mine, held a digital groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for its phase-one facility. Having already completed a small-scale production phase aimed at proving the validity of their model, the company’s new facility will allow it to produce 18,000 tons of magnesium per year and hire about 100 new employees.
“There is strong and growing demand for magnesium, and green metal is prized throughout the world,” said the company’s President, co-founder, and chief technology officer Joël Fournier. “Alliance Magnesium caters directly to this demand.”
Fournier and CEO Michel Gagnon boasted of their product being the “greenest magnesium in the world,” because of the fact that their extraction process produces 23 fewer tons of greenhouse gas emissions per ton of metal than traditional magnesium production.
Pierre Fitzgibbon, Provincial Minister of Economy and Innovation and Minister Responsible for the Lanaudière Region, who was present at the ceremony by videoconference, praised the initiative and the impact that it is likely to have on the region as it grows.
“By focusing on Quebecers’ ingenuity and innovation, we will find solutions to fight climate change and develop a green economy in Quebec,” he said. “There is a growing demand for magnesium worldwide, particularly in the automotive and aerospace industries, because it can be used to produce lighter vehicles. This is a resource we can count on for our transportation electrification strategy.”
Although Fournier explained that the new commercial demonstration plant will still be a small-scale operation by global magnesium production standards, it represents a stepping stone to the company’s eventual goal of a large scale facility at the same site. It is also important to note that as the company currently employs 15 people, the hiring of another hundred represents significant growth.
