Celebrating the recent finding of the Centre for Excellence Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals are, Dr Guangze (Daniel) Yang, University of Adelaide; Annemarie Fawkner, Chief Operating Officer, COEMinerals; Professor Michael Goodsite, University of Adelaide, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research Operations & Commercialisation; Professor Craig Simmons, University of Newcastle Pro Vice-Chancellor, Engineering, Science and Environment and South Australia's Chief Scientist); Laureate Professor Kevin Galvin, University of Newcastle and COEMinerals Centre Director; Professor Chun-Xia Zhao, University of Adelaide; Russell J. Howard, Chief Executive Officer, Theia Metals Pty. Ltd.; B. Sara Howard, Chief Operating Officer, Theia Metals.
Researchers from across Australia, including the University of Adelaide, are pioneering a way to recover critical and rare earth minerals using techniques used to target cancer cells.
Professor Chun-Xia Zhao from the University's School of Chemical Engineering is Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals which is a research centre that focuses on developing sustainable solutions for mineral processing.
"Current mineral separation processes can require hundreds of stages; this is not only inefficient and costly but involves toxic solvents that harm the environment," says Professor Zhao.
"We work with peptides, the tiny chains of amino acids which are the building blocks of life.
"There are 20 naturally existing amino acids which are genetically encoded and are used to build proteins, so imagine randomly combining seven of them, you'd create a library of billions of unique peptides.
"Minerals and metals don't have DNA, but we know nature contains molecules with selective binding properties.
"By identifying specific peptide sequences that selectively bind to a particular mineral, we're essentially uncovering a unique code for that material and have been able to find precise peptide matches for specific minerals, each one fitting like a jigsaw puzzle."
Professor Zhao's latest findings have been published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
The team used the targeted approach on silver, resulting in selective separation of silver particles from silica, a common waste byproduct, and achieving over 98 per cent silver purity, with a recovery rate of more than 95 per cent.
"We think we can push those numbers even higher," says Professor Zhao.
"More tests are currently underway, with a particular focus on rare earth elements which are critical materials used in everything from electric vehicles and wind turbines.
"At present, producing high-purity rare earths can require up to 100 per cent solvent extraction steps, demanding significant capital investment and consuming large quantities of toxic solvents and chemicals.
"We believe the same level of purity can be achieved in just one or two steps, which makes the process far more bio-compatible, environmentally friendly and sustainable.
"This new approach offers selective and recyclable peptides as a single-stage process, reducing both complexity and waste."
Propelling the move from research to commercialisation, a license agreement is in place with Theia Metals Pty. Ltd. to progress the next stage of technology development.
"Partnership and licensing to Theia Metals begins the process of investor and corporate mining partner-led development of this technology to the marketplace," says Theia Metals CEO Russell J. Howard.
