Page 170 - CW E-Magazine (20-5-2025)

News from Abroad

EXPANDING FOOTPRINT

New Zealand’s Aspiring Materials mulls critical

minerals operations in the US

New Zealand-based critical mine- tionally associated with mining and Aspiring Materials said its
ral extraction firm, Aspiring Materi- refining. Christchurch facility, opened in March
als, is expanding to the US to ensure 2025, has proven that the process works
secure and sustainable access to criti- The process produces no carbon at scale. “The patented method is com-
cal minerals for the country. Build- dioxide emissions, no toxic waste, and pletely circular – producing zero waste
ing on the success of its pilot plant in generates only salt water as a by product, and no carbon dioxide emissions. Com-
Christchurch, New Zealand, the com- which is recycled through electrolysis pared to traditional mineral production
pany is planning its first US commer- to regenerate the chemicals needed for processes, each metric tonne of olivine
cial-scale operation in Washington the front-end of its process. By products processed can offset up to 1.6 metric
State, with additional locations under of the chemical electrolysis are oxygen tonnes of CO₂, delivering a powerful
consideration. and green hydrogen, which have value climate benefit alongside criti-
in their own right, demonstrating every cal mineral supply,” it added. Aspiring
Aspiring Materials said it uses a output is used for additional value Materials is backed by leading NZ in-
patented, waste-free process to ex- creation. vestors including Icehouse Ventures,
tract critical minerals from olivine – Outset Ventures, Motion Capital, and
an abundant, low-cost rock with over Mr. Colum Rice, Chief Commer- K1W1, among others. The company
a trillion tonnes of deposits in the US cial Officer of Aspiring Materials, is currently raising capital to fund the
alone. The result is reliable, domes- said, “Bringing Aspiring Materials’ next phase of growth, including conti-
tic production of magnesium hydr- technology to the US not only re- nuous production capabilities, full
oxide, nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) solves significant supply chain risks, engineering design, and strategic part-
hydroxide, and reactive silica with- it can also unlock enduring economic nerships for its first US commercial
out the environmental damage tradi- benefits”. facility.
RESEARCH PROJECT
Rio Tinto and Indium extract first gallium from

alumina refining process
Mining giant, Rio Tinto, and part- tion of larger quantities of gallium at duced in limited quantities globally with
ner Indium Corporation have success- pilot-scale. If successful, Rio Tinto only an estimated 600 metric tonnes per
fully extracted the first primary gal- plans to build a demonstration plant in year, all from outside North America.
lium as part of a R&D project, which Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, financially
ultimately aims to produce commercial supported by the government of Que- In addition to aluminium, copper,
quantities of the critical mineral present bec, with a capacity of up to 3.5 tonnes iron ore and titanium dioxide, Rio Tinto
in the bauxite processed in Rio Tinto’s of gallium per year. The transition to a already produces a wide range of
Vaudreuil alumina refinery in Quebec, commercial-scale plant could see pro- critical minerals in its North American
the only one in Canada. duction reach 40 tonnes annually, rep- facilities, including scandium used in
resenting between 5% and 10% of cur- aluminium alloys, tellurium for solar
This preliminary step was done rent world gallium production. panels, lithium for EV batteries and
in Indium’s R&D facility located in molybdenum for steel alloys. Other re-
Rome, New York. Primary gallium is used in key sectors search and development initiatives are
including the manufacture of integrated ongoing to evaluate the possibility of
The next phase of the project in- circuits vital to modern technologies such extracting new materials from the com-
volves the assessment of extraction as high-performance radar, smartphones, pany’s existing operations and reinforc-
techniques to enable the produc- electric cars and laptops. Gallium is pro- ing the supply chain for these materials.

170 Chemical Weekly May 20, 2025

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