Prospector News Publisher Michael Fox is joined by the President and CEO of Bactech Environmental (CSE:BAC) (OTC:BCCEF) Ross Orr to discuss the awarding of a preliminary patent on their Pyrrhotite Bioleaching process.

Mineral processing creates iron that ultimately ends up in the tailings. Over time this iron generates acid which escapes the tailings to contaminate soil and water. Examples of iron sulphides that produce iron from processing would be pyrite and pyrrhotite and they can contain as much as 60-70% iron. If you read the press release from Friday, you will note that pyrrhotite is what we have been working on in the Sudbury basin. Now imagine if all that iron could be recovered and reused for steel making or battery production. Imagine the millions of tonnes of iron that could be salvaged from the last 100 years of mining.

Bioleaching breaks down the abovementioned sulphides and dumps everything in solution that is soluble in acid (in the tanks). Now that you have this “soup” of elements the job becomes selectively removing each element as a stand alone product. Electrowinning, also called electroextraction, is the deposition or plating of metal on a cathode from solution. In this case we are talking about removing pure iron derived from the bioleach solution and direct sales to steel operations or battery manufactuers. Just imagine the amount of iron that exists in tailings globally. Think of the current miners possibly going back to their tails and producing a saleable product AND improving the environmental footprint. Talk about a circular economy?

Sulphur (sulfur) is another element that also goes into solution as a result of bioleaching. I won’t bore you with the science, but we intend to produce an organic fertilizer from the Sulphur in solution. These organic fertilizers command a premium price in the marketplace and Transparency Market Research projects that the overall sales revenue for ammonium sulfate is estimated to reach US$ 5.9 billion by the end of 2031.

If you are counting that’s the 2nd revenue source.

The 3rd revenue source is of course the base metals, nickel, cobalt, and copper, which will be precipitated out for sale leaving small amounts of magnetite (revenue source #4) to be magnetically removed.

Finally, what is left are silicates which can be used as an industrial filler (geopolymers) or as an underground paste for backfilling in mines (#5).

So from 1 tonne of waste, we hope to sell 5 different products leaving behind zero waste. To be clear, this approach has its challenges but that’s why we do R&D. Led by Dr. Paul Miller, we are working with Mirarco in Sudbury to advance this concept.

About BacTech Environmental Corporation

BacTech Environmental Corporation is a company that specializes in environmental technology. We use a process called bioleaching to recover metals like gold, silver, cobalt, nickel, and copper, while also safely removing harmful contaminants like arsenic. This process is eco-friendly and uses naturally occurring bacteria that are safe for both humans and the environment. By using our proprietary method of bioleaching, we can neutralize toxic concentrates and tailings while also creating profitable opportunities.

Read Friday’s News Release 

Bactech Environmental Corp