SiTration, a materials recovery and processing startup serving the mining and metals industries, recently collaborated with BHP Invent and Copper South Australia to complete five weeks of prototype test work, trialling SiTration’s patented processing technology on local copper samples.
The testing focused on extracting gold and copper from waste streams. SiTration successfully recovered bullion-grade gold (99.99% purity) from gold containing streams using a simplified process and also achieved 99.9% purity in copper recovery from residual waste liquids.
SiTration’s successful demonstration signifies a significant breakthrough in mining innovation, pioneering efficient and low-cost electro-extraction technology to recover minerals from waste and processing streams. SiTration’s silicon-based electrode technology delivers strong durability, selectivity and efficiency, enabling the recovery of high-purity products directly from dilute, complex and chemically harsh streams.
Simplifying flowsheets has the potential to decrease the use of processing chemicals and reduce costs, laying the groundwork for a new era of mineral recovery, SiTration says. For the near term, it is targeting copper and gold waste streams from different BHP assets. Potential future use cases could contribute to unlocking low-grade copper material that is currently seen as waste.
“SiTration’s trial with BHP Invent validates how our breakthrough approach can modernise existing processing operations and set a new standard for resource-efficient, cost-effective mineral recovery across the industry,” Dr. Brendan Smith, Co-founder and CEO of SiTration, said.
Marley Palin, Acting Vice President BHP Innovation, added: “Projects like this are how we turn big ideas into real impact, connecting global innovation with the challenges we’re solving every day across our operations. By accelerating innovation in processing technologies, we can maximise every tonne mined, through reducing inputs and lowering energy and water use. Together, we’re collaborating to deliver safer, more productive and more sustainable outcomes.”
SiTration is a spin-out of MIT, supported by BHP Ventures, enabling full value mining by efficiently recovering critical minerals from even the most dilute and complex streams. The company’s core technology combines uniquely durable silicon filtration and electroextraction stages to enable profitable and sustainable recovery of critical minerals including copper, cobalt, nickel, precious metals, and rare earth elements. SiTration’s technology can replace traditional resource-intensive mining processes and can be deployed to recover materials from traditionally inaccessible sources, including waste. SiTration is quickly scaling up its validated technology, while working with global mining leaders to deploy pilot systems.