Exterra, a Canadian decarbonization company, has been a pioneer in addressing a challenge related to environmental issues that are often overlooked, which is how to clean up the mineral waste left behind in asbestos mines after decades of extraction.
The Canadian company’s initiative is to transform old mining waste into valuable materials for collecting CO2. Exterra has raised CAD 20 million in a funding round to build Hub I, expected to be the world’s largest facility for processing asbestos mine tailings (AMT).
Asbestos is a group of fire-retardant minerals that are popularly used in construction and safety gear in some cases. However, it’s composed of microscopic fibrils that can be released into the atmosphere, causing life-threatening lung conditions when inhaled in large amounts.
Half of the world’s supply of this material once came from the Jeffrey Mine in the Central Canadian town of Asbestos, Quebec (now known as Val-des-Sources), contributing to Canada’s position as a leading exporter in the 1970s.
Though the mine was out of work in 2012, the legacy of asbestos remains, causing a high incidence of mesothelioma, a deadly lung disease linked to asbestos exposure in Quebec, according to a report in 2018.
Exterra’s Hub I facility will process AMT to produce low-carbon metal oxides, including magnesium oxide used in various applications like healthcare and wastewater treatment, and nickel concentrate, a crucial component in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
In addition, the facility will also use a proprietary technology that integrates CO2 sequestration directly into the mineral processing, eliminating the need for a separate carbon capture system. This process mineralizes CO2, which can effectively trap it for millennia.
Furthermore, this approach will also safely destroy any remaining asbestos fibers, reducing the health risks related to airborne particles.
With the planned use of renewable energy, Exterra aims to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the whole process.
Exterra’s tech has been tested in pre-commercial pilot operations in Val-des-Sources, and the company plans to build Hub I in 2027. Its facility is expected to process over 300,000 tons of AMT each year, using more than 90% of the minerals from the waste and creating a more localized nickel supply chain for EV production in North America.
In addition, the company also aims to become the first to commercialize carbon-neutral mineral production from mine tailings, a potentially game-changing development in the mining industry.
Photo by Vedrana Filipović on Unsplash
Article source by Exterra
