St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. announced the results of its pilot plant chemical processing of the black mass previously created from the initial shipment of 20 tons of batteries supplied by a potential partner under a non-disclosure agreement. This press release was spoken of in the Company's December Monthly Progress Report. St-Georges' battery recycling subsidiary, EVSX, continues to commission the front end of the battery recycling operation. Shredder and segregation of black mass from steel, aluminum, plastic, and copper
continues to progress nicely. Each type of battery is being processed separately to assure the process is optimized for the recovery of critical elements of each battery type. The Company is expecting to take delivery of an additional 28 tons of spent batteries of multiple types. Nickel-Cadmium Battery Recycling The Nickel-Cadmium, commercial and domestic, recycling and recuperation process is being optimized currently at the company's contracted pilot plant facilities. The batteries processed are being segregated by types by the supplier prior to being received by EVSX. The Nickel-Cadmium batteries are being shredded with the steel, aluminium, and copper being separated at the first stage, leaving the nickel, cobalt, cadmium, and battery carbon in a black mass ready for chemical processing. The Company will not disclose the value brought by these metals being recuperated due to a confidentiality and first refusal agreement that restricts what information can be specifically disseminated. Percentages of recuperation for the remaining material will be disclosed after the current testing period is completed. Plastic and PVC are also being segregated and should be turned into feedstock for Hydrogen production. Recent work on a large array of Nickel-Cadmium-type batteries indicates that the Company can obtain a relatively clean black mass that contains on average 18.65% Nickel, 27.88% Cadmium, and 1.36% Cobalt. This makes this type of battery very interesting from a value point of view as it is worth more than USD 5,000 per ton of black mass. Initial batches being processed exceed the Company's expectations. The black mass is very clean and fairly easy to process using the company's proprietary technology. The selective leach works well with the oxides and all the forms of hydroxides that the battery elements come in. The results were similar to hard rock and clays during leaching with the selective leach. This puts EVSX substantially ahead of its expected engineering study timeline as the facility is essentially built versus needing to be designed. Management imposed a change in the study's approach after the preliminary report was received and believes that it is currently bearing dividends. Complementary Material Information Regarding Manicouagan Hole 18 (SX-MN21-18) On November 29, 2021, the company disclosed in a press release (St-Georges to Expand Work on Julie & Manicougan Projects in 2022) that it planned to send a series of samples for independent analysis. These samples represent an important section of the core of hole SX-MN21-18 from the Manicouagan 2021 drilling campaign. At the time of the press release, the company should have known that its geological contractors already had divergent information. The information disseminated by the company should have stated that rush services would not be possible for these samples. Due to these samples very high sulfurs content and the potential for significantly higher metals grade results, the samples were referred to a specialized high-grade laboratory by the Canadian independent laboratory. Furthermore, the very high sulfide content of the samples required the company to keep the samples in fire-resistant containers for travel. The company currently has no estimates on travel or processing time.