Exclusive Licensing Agreement for Clean Magnesium Processing
DRAFT *****
Norway House Cree Nation (NHCN) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive licensing agreement with Big Blue Technologies (BBT) for the exclusive use of their magnesium extraction technology (called aluminothermic (ATR)), including the exclusive rights to sell the magnesium produced to markets around the world.
Chief Larson Anderson commented that “licensing the BBT technology will make Manitoba the centre of primary magnesium production in Canada and does this as the most energy efficient, and environmentally sustainable technology available globally with up to 98% lower carbon emissions.”
NHCN will use the BBT technology to extract magnesium from the approximately 111 million tonnes of dolomite cover rock, which contains about 12% magnesium making economic use of what historically has been considered of little value. As well, the BBT technology will use renewable hydroelectricity from the Manitoba Hydro grid, does not require water, and no liquid or solid waste is produced.
Chief Anderson went on to say that “this project aligns with the First Nations principle of “using the entire animal,” deriving value from all materials extracted by the Minago Critical Minerals Project, minimizing waste and maximizing the economic value of the project.”
The Minago dolomite can supply Canada’s primary magnesium needs for generations, with abundant room for market growth. About 93% of all primary magnesium production originates from China and Russia, with smaller amounts produced in Israel and Türkiye. All other production methods are energy intensive and highly polluting.
NHCN purchased the Minago project to advance its plan to develop local natural resources, while protecting the land, water, and air, and to develop significant employment opportunities for the people living in the region. As there is no primary magnesium production in North America, the time is right for the Minago Critical Minerals project to become the magnesium supplier for Canada, which will in turn provide economic opportunities for First Nation residents, and create a new roadmap for resource development in Canada.”
Backgrounder
Norway House Cree Nation purchased the Minago project from Flying Nickel Mining Corp in November 2024 making Minago the first 100% First Nation owned major mining project in Manitoba and Canada.
PGMs are high value metals, current (20 Oct 2025, metalsdaily.com) market prices (USD) are $8050/oz for Rhodium, $910/oz for Ruthenium, $1620/oz for Platinum, and $1495/oz for Palladium. The addition of platinum and palladium to the mineral resource enabled an increase in the overall nickel resource because these high value metals increase the total value of each tonne of resource.
PGMs are widely used as catalysts in the automotive, petroleum, and chemical industries, in electronics, and as precious metals. Nickel is widely used in the production of stainless steel and other alloys and in rechargeable batteries.
Recent metallurgical testing using a new recovery process demonstrated 91% to 94% recovery of the magnesium, producing 99.9% magnesium metal from what was previously not considered to be of value.
The slag from the magnesium process also has economic value for use in steel production and specialty cements so that, over the long term, all the dolomite can be converted to economic products.
Drilling of the Nose and North Limb deposits focused on shallow open pit minable resources and the deposits remain open at depth. Other targets as large as the Nose and North Limb remain to be drilled off.
All of Canada’s primary magnesium metal is imported, and the majority (93%) of global production is in China and Russia. The Minago dolomite can make Canada self-sufficient in magnesium for centuries.
Magnesium is used in the production of aluminum and titanium alloys, and other strong lightweight materials which is an essential material for the aerospace, automotive, defence, health, agri-food, and technology sectors. As the demand to produce lighter and stronger materials grows, so will the demand for magnesium.
NHCN and BBT have demonstrated the technology can efficiently recover magnesium from the Minago dolomite, with high magnesium recoveries of 91 to 94% to produce 99.9% pure magnesium metal in tests completed to date. Canada uses about 25,000 tonnes of primary magnesium metal annually, and all is imported. The United States uses about 200,000 tonnes of primary metal annually. With 10 tonnes of dolomite producing 1 tonne of magnesium metal,
The addition of carbon capture, still in development, would make the BBT process a net consumer of carbon and a generator of carbon credits.
About Big Blue Technologies
BBT is based in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and is working to be the foremost provider of magnesium metal and calcium aluminate. Their focus is on the development of energy efficient, low emissions magnesium production technology. The company was spun out of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. BBT operates their pilot production plant at Cheyenne and is the only facility in North America capable of producing magnesium metal with a capacity over 1 kg/hour.