US biotechnology firm Allonnia says it will aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of its D-Solve technology in a live nickel production environment when it deploys a mobile plant to the Lundin Mining-owned Eagle Mine in Michigan in the fourth quarter of this year.
“Eagle Mine is excited to be the first nickel producer to pilot D-Solve in a live processing environment,” the mining entity’s managing director, Darby Stacey said.
“We believe this innovation could unlock several critical efficiencies in our process that could lead to extending the life of the mine.”
D-Solve uses microbes instead of chemicals to dissolve unwanted gangue and purify mineral concentrates. The Eagle Mine test will examine whether it can improve nickel recovery by removing unwanted materials such as magnesium from concentrate. The impurities limit smelter acceptance of Eagle Mine concentrate and can mean valuable nickel is sent to tailings storage.
The D-Solve unit will operate continuously, treating one-to-two tonnes of concentrate per day, with the aim of testing its performance under real production conditions and to see if it can be scaled for wider use. A previous demonstration that took place last December at SGS Lakefield in Ontario, Canada, reportedly cut magnesium impurities by 40% and improved nickel grade by 18% with “stable recovery and recyclable biosolutions”.
Allonnia is a five-year-old Boston start-up that has raised about US$90 million of private equity funding from the likes of BHP Ventures, Vale Ventures and Bison Ventures.
CEO Nicole Richards described the Eagle Mine test as a “pivotal step in proving that bolt-on biological innovation can redefine how critical minerals are processed both economically and sustainably”.
“Getting here took countless pivots, failed and successful experiments, expert advice, humility and an incredible cross-functional team. None of it was easy but this is just the beginning,” she said this week.
“Meeting the surging demand for critical minerals requires a fundamental shift in how we extract value from increasingly complex ores.
“D-Solve is engineered to unlock value from low-grade ores, improve concentrate quality and reduce environmental impact.”
