Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (TSX.V: VM) (OTC Pink: VYYRF) has announced significant progress in its proprietary Mueller iodine extraction process, achieving 99.8% purity and over 90% recovery in laboratory tests using real oilfield brine. This development is a critical step in the company's strategy to establish a domestic supply of high-purity iodine for the North American radiology contrast media market, reducing reliance on imports and creating new value from produced water.
The Houston laboratory, dedicated to advancing the Mueller process, has validated the technology under controlled conditions, producing iodine at 99.8% purity and exceeding 90% overall recovery. The process has been operated continuously with real oilfield brine from the Anadarko and Permian basins, demonstrating its viability for commercial deployment. In addition, the process generates clean brine suitable for disposal or reinjection, aligning with zero-liquid-discharge objectives.
A field-capable pilot unit, sized to treat 80,000 liters per day, has been constructed and is scheduled to begin field testing in the coming weeks, with operations planned for September 2026. This pilot will provide operating data under real-world conditions, supporting the design of modular, relocatable production units. Voyageur's modular concept aims to deploy 200-tonne-per-year field units at multiple saltwater disposal sites, where iodine concentrate can be produced and transported to a central hub for final polishing, prilling, and packaging.
Engineering and project planning are progressing, with work focused on finalizing process systems for iodine polishing, prilling, and packaging, and defining the modular field unit and central processing hub configuration. Subsequent phases will advance through front-end loading stages, including concept design and basic design, to refine cost estimates and support commercial deployment planning.
The strategic importance of this advancement lies in the untapped resource of produced brine, which contains billions of barrels handled and disposed of each year at significant cost, yet only a small fraction of the iodine is recovered. Voyageur aims to be the first to economically extract iodine from this source, offering oil and gas producers and midstream water operators a new revenue stream while securing a critical raw material for its vertically integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Brent Willis, President and CEO of Voyageur, emphasized the significance of the milestone: “Achieving 99.8% purity and greater than 90% recovery in laboratory testing using real oilfield brine provides meaningful technical validation as we prepare for field pilot operations. This work supports our broader strategy of building a secure, vertically integrated supply chain for radiology drugs.”
The company plans to develop iodine production capacity of up to 1,000 tonnes per year to support its future iodine-based contrast pharmaceutical production. Voyageur's staged approach includes validating iodine recovery in the field, advancing modular production, and ultimately supporting future drug manufacturing. This development, alongside its Frances Creek barium project, positions Voyageur across key parts of the medical imaging contrast media value chain.
For more information on Voyageur Pharmaceuticals, visit https://voyageurpharmaceuticals.ca.
