Diverse Critical Minerals Portfolio

There is growing demand for formerly-obscure elements in new technologies such as clean energy, aerospace, energy efficiency, modern electronics and medical applications.

Avalon owns a diverse critical metals and minerals property portfolio, offering investors exposure to the rare earth elements, lithium, tin, indium, cesium and tantalum. 

Avalon has been developing critical mineral properties since the mid 1990’s, when President & CEO, Don Bubar, first acquired the Separation Rapids Lithium Project for its industrial mineral potential for glass-ceramics.

Leader in Sustainability

The principles of sustainability are core values. Avalon is a leader among junior miners in adopting best practices to reduce its environmental footprint, prevent water contamination and engage with local communities.

Acting sustainably creates company value by reducing risk for all stakeholders and by optimizing opportunities for individual and community prosperity.

Avalon has been annually reporting on its sustainability performance for almost a decade. Avalon’s sustainability reports provide tangible evidence that the mineral development industry is evolving rapidly as it transitions to cleantech materials production; embraces new, more efficient process technology; and reduces the scale of initial operations - all resulting in a greatly reduced environmental footprint.

Unique Lithium Deposit

The Separation Rapids deposit in northwestern Ontario hosts the world’s largest, undeveloped known resource of the rare lithium mineral petalite. Avalon is currently re-evaluating the potential to serve the glass-ceramics market and has also investigated the possibility of producing a high purity lithium chemical for the rapidly expanding market in lithium ion batteries.

The global glass industry is valued at over $100 billion, and continues to grow through innovation of new glass products, many of which take advantage of the unique properties of lithium for strengthening glass. In addition to the burgeoning battery industry expansion, the glass industry still represents 25-30% of global demand for lithium.

In November 2020, Avalon entered into a Letter of Intent with Rock Tech Lithium Inc. to collaborate on the development of a lithium battery materials process facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This facility would be designed to accept lithium mineral concentrates from Avalon's Separation Rapids Lithium Project and Rock Tech's Georgia Lake Lithium Project, as well as potentially other emerging, new lithium mining operations in northern Ontario, to produce lithium sulphate, a precursor chemical for lithium-ion batteries.

Critical Minerals Cesium and Tantalum

Avalon has re-activated its Lilypad Project (Pickle Lake, Ontario) with an exploration program focused on cesium and tantalum. Economic resources of the cesium ore mineral 'pollucite' are very rare and Lilypad represents one of the very few known significant occurrences in the world. With declining production from traditional sources, new cesium producers are needed for this scarce advanced material to meet growing demand. Cesium is a widely used advanced material with uses in specialty drilling fluids; atomic clocks; electric power devices that convert heat to energy; photoelectric cells for medical devices and videography; and in ion engines designed for space crafts on extended missions. Tantalum is very rare, averaging just 2 ppm in the earth’s crust. Its ability to store electricity in small capacitors has allowed the miniaturization of aviation electronics, computers andall hand held electronic devices. 

Clean Technology Business Opportunities

Avalon is evaluating opportunities to apply an innovative, new extraction technology to recover rare earths and other metals from acid mine drainage at closed mine sites and remediate the environmental liability. Ultimately, the goal is to demonstrate how this technology can recover separated rare earths at a much lower cost than traditional solvent extraction technology and make it economic to recover rare earths from lower grade resources, such as mine wastes. This technology could have broad application at many sites.

Profitable Rehabilitation of a Brownfield Mine Site

Avalon is working toward re-starting production of tin at its East Kemptville Project in Nova Scotia. East Kemptville was in production for just six years before closing in 1992 due to depressed tin prices. Growing demand for tin in the electronics sector has created an opportunity to re-develop the site as a new North American producer of conflict-free tin.

Avalon's current development model contemplates an environmental remediation project that will be financed through the sale of tin concentrates recovered in large part from previously-mined mineralized material on the site.