B.C. is embracing a new technology aimed at giving the mining industry a more environmentally friendly way to extract critical minerals.
B.C. government officials said this chemical process is touted to have almost no net environmental impact.
“B.C. is home to a growing clean-energy sector, accounting for 20% of Canada’s world-leading clean-tech firms that are having positive impacts globally,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. “With near net-zero environmental impact in the extraction of critical metals and minerals, pH7 is demonstrating the kind of innovative thinking that can transform mining around the world.”
B.C. government officials said the tech, created by pH7 Technologies, is a closed-loop process that uses advanced chemistry to extract and refine critical metals.
This is also purported to enable resource extraction from low-grade or difficult materials in a cost-effective way.
The metals produced by pH7, such as copper and tin, will be refined and used or sold by industrial customers.
B.C. officials said this process creates fewer greenhouse gas emissions and uses less electricity and water usage compared to mining or other recycling methods.
“To combat climate change, we know that it is essential for industries to reduce their emissions,” said Raj Chouhan, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds. “PH7’s pilot project could help the mining sector reduce their emissions and water usage while extracting the critical minerals needed to produce clean energy like electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, electrical transmission lines and batteries.”
The tech company will receive $850,000 from the Province’s Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund to process 5,000 kilograms of raw materials per day into 2,500 kilograms of extracted metals per year.
“We at pH7 are seeing a real opportunity to advance in the path to net-zero and are honoured to be receiving the support of the Province’s ICE Fund as we explore continued growth and commercialization of our technology,” said Mohammad Doostmohammadi, founder and CEO of pH7 Technologies. “The clean, green future we envision requires more critical metals than we have access to currently. Through innovation and collaboration, we look forward to bringing our clean-tech solution to help scale the extraction of metals and make existing processes much more sustainable and cost-effective.”
PH7 was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Vancouver.