Imagine a giant pile of old mining waste that's too expensive to clean up but still contains valuable metals. Instead of using expensive machinery, this project uses special bacteria in a pond to eat away the rock and release the metals. It's like using a natural biological filter to turn trash into treasure without spending a fortune on factories.
Mining companies have billions of tonnes of low-grade waste that are too expensive to process using current tank methods, creating both a lost profit opportunity and a long-term environmental risk.
A low-cost pond bioleaching system and environmentally friendly SX reagents for extracting copper and cobalt.
If you are a mining operator dealing with billions of tonnes of waste—this project developed a pond bioleaching system that recovers cobalt and copper at a lower cost than traditional tanks. This turns an environmental liability into a revenue stream.
If you are a chemical manufacturer dealing with toxic extraction agents—this project developed new environmentally friendly SX reagents for metal separation. This allows for cleaner production of refined cobalt and copper for the EU market.
If you are a remediation firm dealing with sulfidic tailings risks—this project developed a bioleaching process that produces benign residues. This reduces long-term environmental liabilities for mine sites.
The pond bioleaching system sharply reduces capital and operating costs compared to conventional tank bioleaching, making recovery viable for lower-grade materials.
The system will be demonstrated at TRL7 using Mopani mine tailings in Zambia.
Based on available project data, the project is developing new environmentally friendly SX reagents, but specific licensing terms are not yet disclosed.
The project runs from 2026-06-01 to 2029-11-30.
The process yields refined cobalt and copper specifically intended for EU markets to secure and diversify critical raw material access.
The consortium is well-balanced for commercialization, featuring 14 partners across 8 countries. With an industry ratio of 43% (6 industrial partners), the project has strong market pull, while the inclusion of 3 SMEs suggests a focus on agile technology deployment and specialized reagent development.
Contact BUREAU DE RECHERCHES GEOLOGIQUES ET MINIERES in France
Contact us to connect with the INSOKA consortium for early adoption of bioleaching tech.
