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Wed, April 18, 2012 Medallion Resources Hires Key Personnel to Implement Rare-Earth Production Strategy
April 18, 2012 05:00 ET
Medallion Resources Hires Key Personnel to Implement Rare-Earth Production Strategy
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 18, 2012) -Medallion Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:MDL)(PINKSHEETS:MLLOF)(FRANKFURT:MRD) ("Medallion" or the "Company") announces that it has strengthened its team by adding two new members to assist in the execution of its monazite-based rare-earth strategy. Mr. Sothi Thillairajah has been appointed General Manager -- Middle East, to work on plant-siting, financing and logistic issues, within the Indian Ocean basin, related to Medallion's planned large-scale, rare-earth processing facility. Mr. Warwick Bartle, an experienced sales and marketing veteran of the mineral-sands industry, has been appointed Director, Feedstock Acquisition, to secure long-term, monazite supply agreements.
Medallion's rare-earth production strategy exploits currently-mined monazite resources, which are produced as a by-product of heavy-mineral-sands mining operations and typically discarded during the processing flow. Monazite is a rare-earth phosphate mineral with a proven, metallurgical extraction process which has successfully produced commercial rare-earth products for over 100 years. No other rare-earth mineral, except bastnaesite, has such a record of commercial success. The cost and time-saving attributes of Medallion's approach offer a unique solution to today's rare-earth supply concerns in the industrialized economies.
"Adding these key people, following the recent endorsement of the SENES Consultants' report, highlights our progress toward the planned financing and construction of a monazite-based, rare-earth processing facility. Our team is now fully engaged in monazite procurement, production-plant site selection and related partnerships," said Dr Bill Bird, Medallion Chairman & CEO. "We can now confidently choose a location for our rare-earth processing facility. Our search is focused on the Indian Ocean basin, where the majority of the world's monazite is located," added Bird. The Company's news release issued January 26, 2012 provides additional information on the SENES report."
Sothi Thillairajah has two decades of experience in international finance, advising North American corporations on Middle East joint ventures and early-stage, mineral projects in Africa and Latin America. Most recently, he was Managing Director at Revere Capital Advisors, a hedge-fund seeding group, working with investment professionals at Middle Eastern financial institutions, sovereign-wealth funds, and investment offices evaluating and recommending hedge funds and private equity investments. Mr. Thillairajah earned a BA cum laude in Economics at the University of Rochester and holds an MBA in Finance and Statistics from the University of Chicago.
Warwick Bartle's commercial experience with titanium and related minerals spans almost 50 years. He started as an industrial chemist, working in pigment production for Laporte Titanium (now Cristal Pigments). He soon found his way into international mineral sales and marketing, and over the years has held those responsibilities for titanium minerals, zircon and monazite for leading companies that include Western Titanium (now Iluka Resources), QIT (now Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium Inc), Cable Sands/RZM (now Bemax), and others. Mr. Bartle, who is based in Australia, is a graduate of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, London.
About Heavy-Mineral Sands
Heavy-mineral sands are beach placer deposits formed by wave-action gravity concentration of the heavy-mineral grains. There are large-scale heavy-mineral-sands mining operations in Australia, South Asia, Africa and the Americas, where these beach deposits are mined principally for titanium and zirconium ores.
About Medallion Resources
Medallion is rethinking rare earths. Headed by Dr Bill Bird and supported by a first-class technical team, the Company is well positioned to identify and exploit the world's most promising rare-earth opportunities. Medallion's strategy targets large deposits amenable to straightforward low-cost mining and metallurgical processes that lead to near-term, rare-earth production and long-term supply. Rare earths are used in critical components for virtually all computing and mobile electronic products, as well as wind turbines, electric and hybrid vehicles and strategic defense systems. More about Medallion (TSX VENTURE:MDL)(PINKSHEETS:MLLOF)(FRANKFURT:MRD) can be found at [ www.medallionresources.com ].
Medallion management takes full responsibility for content and has prepared this news release. Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements, such as estimates and statements that describe Medallion's future exploration, production and financing plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that Medallion or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in these statements. Such risks include expectations that may be raised by discussing potential business, acquisitions or development plans. Also, in order to proceed with Medallion's plans, additional funding will be necessary and, depending on market conditions, this funding may not be forthcoming on a schedule or on terms that facilitate Medallion's plans.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
