Canada-based Yava Technologies and its consultants have partnered with Cape Breton University to design, build and validate a pilot-scale mining plant to extract mineral through a closed-loop process.
The pilot plant will help in assessing the viability of a full-scale plant to extract valuable minerals without releasing greenhouse gas.
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The latest development will help extend mine life, reduce industrial waste and extract higher purity minerals.
Yava Technologies has invented an environmentally friendly mineral extraction process, which does not need traditional mining equipment such as concentrators and smelters.
The process claimed to produce high-value products for different industries, while cutting energy use in mines and certain industrial complexes.
The technology will also enable faster, economical mine closure procedures due to reduced metal content in tailings.
Yava Technologies president and CEO Robert Pepper said: "This pilot plant is enabling us to become more productive and competitive by acquiring new information, adapting our technology to specific industry requirements, and building the management and technical skills needed to innovate, grow and compete."
In a bid to enable the company to perform tests at the pilot plant scale, the Government of Canada is contributing $400,000 through ACOA’s business development programme (BDP).
Yava’s new project will also receive a $399,123 grant from the Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
Nova Scotia Regional Minister Peter MacKay said: "Our government is pleased to support Yava Technologies’ pilot plant as an important step in the ongoing collaborative development of this technology to improve efficiency.
"Successful adoption on an industrial scale would result in significant benefits, including extended life of extraction operations, a reduced environmental footprint and a higher quality end-product."
Image: Yava Technologies will design, build and validate a pilot-scale mining plant. Photo: courtesy of Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
