Vancouver-based critical mineral processing company pH7 Technologies on Tuesday announced up to C$5 million (US$3.5 million) in funding from Natural Resources Canada through a mining decarbonisation call for proposals to evaluate a first-of-its-kind copper production technology using samples from Trekor Metals’ Gibraltar mine in British Columbia, Canada’s second-largest open pit copper operation.
The project will validate pH7’s closed-loop copper recovery process, which converts low-grade sulfide ore directly into 99.9% pure copper cathodes on site with green hydrogen generation as a byproduct.
If successful, the project will generate the operational, environmental and economic data needed to support potential future expansion and deployment across the Canadian mining sector, the company said.
“As demand for copper continues to grow due to electrification, renewable energy infrastructure, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, the industry faces the challenge of increasing supply while minimizing environmental impacts,” Mohammad Dost Mohammadi, CEO of pH7 Technologies, said in a press release.
“Support from Natural Resources Canada underscores the importance of developing innovative Canadian technologies that can enhance supply chains for critical minerals, improve resource efficiency, and help decarbonize the mining industry,” he said.
“Canada has the resources, talent and innovative technologies needed to be a global leader in critical minerals,” added Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.
“Projects like this help strengthen local supply chains, improve the competitiveness of our mining sector and support economic growth while promoting more efficient and sustainable resource development.”
Hodgson said the project will progress through the engineering and technology development phases, generating the technical data needed to evaluate future demonstration opportunities and de-risk future commercial deployment.
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