Revolutionizing Ore Processing In Mixed Mineral Deposits

Q: What are your key business goals in Mexico?
A: Our business is based on identifying geographical areas with mines that have the potential of using our technology. Firstly, we determine which countries have interesting geology with potential and Mexico is definitely one of the top countries due to its significantly favorable geology and substantial mining industry.
We have adopted a flexible approach. The core business plan we have revolves around licensing our technology to the user in exchange for a royalty. We believe this is the fairest and easiest way to reward us for the provision of the intellectual property and for the mine operator to pay us based on successful adoption of the technology. But we have also recognized that there are other ways to be rewarded for our intellectual property, whether it be through an equity stake in the project or the company, or some other direct investment involvement instead of the royalty. We are open to discussion depending on the owner’s interest.
Q: Considering the innovation you provide, what challenges have you encountered working in Mexico?
A: We talk to companies for which we have identified an opportunity at the stage when some drilling has been carried out and the project has moved from early exploration to the project feasibility study decision. At that stage, companies begin to look at the mineral processing options. From our point of view, the company has already done most of the hard work in making the discovery. Because we are a service provider, we are effectively detached from operating directly in the country. Having said that, a beneficial environment for mining companies is important for us because it stimulates activity and is more likely to lead to viable and successful projects where we can get involved.
Q: What are the main differences between your leaching processes and more traditional processes?
A: The different processes of the mining cycle revolve around exploration, discovery, development, production and closure. Within that, the role of mineral processing is key because it has a material impact on the feasibility and economics of any project. By improving recovery by a few percent or more and hence reducing costs, this can greatly affect returns.
AmmLeach, which is our core technology, is very similar in terms of methodology to conventional acid leaching. However, the most important difference is that we are using an ammonia reagent. AmmLeach has significant economic, environmental and efficiency benefits. The important thing to note is that the same equipment can be used, with no need for elevated temperature or pressure. Yet by using our patented technology with incorporating a pre-treatment step, in many cases the targeted metals can be recovered in a much more cost-effective way than using acid leaching.
This technology is not suitable directly for gold and silver projects but it is certainly suitable for base-precious metals mixed deposits, such as gold-copper or silver-zinc. A sulfide deposit quite often has an oxide cap and a transition zone with a precious metal component. In the instance of a copper-gold orebody, our AmmLeach product process can be used to extract the base metal, and the precious metal can then be leached using cyanide. Acid and cyanide processes effectively do not work well together so this is a big advantage over conventional processes.
Q: How do you envision demand for base metals in the midterm and beyond?
A: In general, I believe base metals demand will rise significantly. This is based on well-known optimistic expectations for growth in the global economy. More specifically, there will be an increased demand for many base metals related to the electric vehicle (EV) revolution being forecast in the next few decades. In conjunction with EV technology, which will require huge quantities of base metals, there will also be a boom in electricity storage batteries. Again, that will lead to increased demand for base metals and several minor metals.