BHP and SiTration to Pilot Recovery of Two Metric Tons of Copper in Arizona, USA

en.Wedoany.com Reported - BHP will partner with SiTration, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spin-off, to launch two copper recovery technology pilot projects at BHP's site in the Globe-Miami area of Arizona, USA, attempting to extract copper from legacy mining water at the historic Copper Cities mine, exploring a viable path for domestic copper production in the United States.

The initial phase of the pilot will involve a one-month small-scale trial. Later this year, the project is expected to scale up deployment, with plans to produce up to two metric tons of commercial-scale copper cathode within two months.

Copper Cities was once an active mine, producing nearly 400,000 metric tons of copper cumulatively from the 1950s to the early 1980s.

Kevin Ramsay, General Manager of Legacy Assets at BHP, stated that the pilot provides an opportunity to evaluate innovative methods for recovering copper from mining-affected water while gaining valuable technical and operational insights. He also noted that the company is pleased to collaborate with SiTration to test this technology under real operating conditions, to better understand its potential to recover value from legacy mining water sources.

The two companies have signed an agreement to lay the groundwork for collaboration on the pilot project and will evaluate follow-up opportunities if pilot results are positive. Both parties believe this new approach could help further recover valuable metals from existing sites and support efforts to strengthen domestic copper supply in the United States.

Brendan Smith, CEO and co-founder of SiTration, stated that the southwestern United States holds billions of dollars' worth of copper-bearing legacy mining water. With global copper demand expected to grow by approximately 70% by 2050 to support the rapid buildout of energy infrastructure and data centers, developing these resources is a pathway to strengthening domestic supply chains while producing copper at the bottom of the global cost curve.

SiTration has previously conducted small-scale laboratory tests on feed material from Copper Cities, producing LME Grade A copper. The process uses no chemicals, generates no new waste, and recovers copper from dilute legacy mining water with energy consumption of less than 3-4 kWh per kilogram.