en.Wedoany.com Reported - MIT spin-off SiTration, in collaboration with BHP Invent and BHP Copper South Australia, successfully extracted 99.99% pure gold and 99.9% pure copper from local copper sample waste streams during a five-week prototype trial. The trial focused on validating SiTration's patented processing technology's ability to selectively recover high-purity metals from waste liquids.

SiTration employs silicon-based electrode technology, which offers durability, selectivity, and efficiency advantages, enabling the direct recovery of high-purity products from dilute, complex, and chemically harsh waste streams. Streamlining the process helps reduce the use of processing chemicals and lower operational costs. Dr. Brendan Smith, co-founder and CEO of SiTration, noted that the trial demonstrated how the company's approach can modernize existing processing operations and set a new standard for resource-efficient, cost-saving mineral recovery.

In the short term, SiTration aims to process copper and gold waste streams from various BHP assets. Future potential applications may include unlocking low-grade copper materials currently considered waste. Marley Palin, Acting Vice President of Innovation at BHP, believes that such projects transform bold ideas into practical impact, accelerating processing technology innovation to reduce inputs, energy consumption, and water usage, achieving safer, more efficient, and more sustainable operations.