An Australian start-up, founded at Macquarie University, unveiled a new copper processing technology late last week that could help reshape how copper is produced for the global mining industry.
Developed by the Loop Hydrometallurgy, the patented Halion Loop technology leaches, purifies and recovers copper directly using simple salt water. Its inventors say it requires up to 70% less power than current methods and does so in a safer way.
Production is expected to begin in 2028, with the current pilot cell prototype producing around 20kg of copper per day. Macquarie University says there is scope to scale up to two tonnes per day per commercial cell.
Traditional copper extraction involves three major industrial steps, with loads of concentrate transported over thousands of kilometres and up to 90% of material being discarded as waste.
Dave Sammut, CEO of an industrial chemist working on the technology, says the inventors use simple salt water at less than 100 degrees celsius, with no noxious gas emissions and no liquid effluents.
Sammut’s modelling suggests this process could reduce the net carbon footprint of copper production by up to 80%.
“Saving energy, while extracting high volumes of copper, is our secret sauce,” he says.
“We’ve developed the hardware that can directly pull metals back into high-purity forms, without having to convert them or use additional chemistry.”
Co-founder Heath Warman notes that miners are going to save a lot of money.
“We estimate that a typical Australian mine could reduce operating costs by 30-40%,” Warman says.
“Governments will also benefit through significantly increased royalties, because mines will be producing value-added final products in Australia instead of shipping that value overseas.”
The technology also unlocks vast known resources such as arsenic contaminated in copper, which is unsuitable for traditional extraction methods. According to Macquarie University, it is estimated that 25% of known copper resources in Australia have arsenic contamination.
The process also captures other critical metals directly at the mine site, including lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, platinum group metals and rare earth elements.
This news comes from recent analysis by GEM Mining Consulting reveals that copper is set to face challenges amid the ongoing war involving Iran, as reported by Mining.com.au.
Copper presents a complex and two-sided outlook, in comparison to oil – which is the most immediately and directly exposed to the conflict. GEM Mining reports that while near-term prices may come under pressure from weaker risk sentiment and growth concerns, a prolonged disruption could later support prices through higher costs, tighter supply chains, and an already constrained market balance.
According to the US Geological Survey, Iran produced about 279,700 tonnes of primary copper, 87.9 million tonnes of iron ore, and 9.8 grams per tonne of gold in 2023. The country also holds a very large copper ore and iron ore reserves.
Loop Hydrometallurgy is headquartered at Macquarie University, where it has developed and enhanced the cleaner copper technology with a STEM team recruited from student ranks – made up to 75% female engineers and scientists.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Unsplash & iStock
