A new chemical process is being developed in British Columbia to allow the mining industry to extract critical minerals with minimal environmental impact. Vancouver-based pH7 Technologies has created a closed-loop process using advanced chemistry to extract and refine critical metals. This process also enables efficient extraction from low-grade resources or difficult substrates in a cost-effective manner. The metal alloys produced by pH7, including platinum group metals, copper, and tin, are then refined by industrial customers.
pH7 founder and CEO Mohammad Doostmohammadi expressed optimism about the potential for growth and commercialization of their technology, with the support of the Province’s ICE Fund. PH7 will use $850,000 from the ICE Fund to conduct a pilot project processing 5,000 kilograms of raw materials per day, resulting in approximately 2,500 kilograms of extracted platinum group metals per year. The ICE Fund established in 2007 supports B.C.’s clean-energy sector by funding projects that promote clean, renewable energy technologies and reduce fossil fuel consumption to help preserve the environment.
