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BHP and MIT spinout SiTration to pilot copper recovery in Arizona
The pilots will start in August with a month-long test, followed by a later this-year deployment targeting up to two tonnes of commercial copper cathodes.
BHP and MIT spinout SiTration announced two pilot deployments to trial SiTration’s copper valorization technology at BHP’s Copper Cities site in Arizona’s Globe-Miami mining district, aiming to produce copper recovered from legacy mining water.
The initiative begins in August with a small-scale, one-month pilot designed to validate continuous, autonomous copper production from diluted mining water. A larger deployment planned for later this year would seek to produce up to two tonnes of commercial scale copper cathodes over a two-month period.
The companies said they have a collaboration framework covering pilot execution and evaluation of future opportunities if the outcomes are successful. SiTration said bench-scale testing using real feedstock from the site has already demonstrated LME Grade A copper production, and preliminary tests showed energy consumption below 3-4 kWh per kilogram of recovered copper.
SiTration’s CEO Brendan Smith said the American Southwest contains legacy mining water holding what he described as billions of dollars worth of copper, and framed the project as a way to support domestic supply chains as global demand grows. BHP North American president Jessica Farrell added that the Copper Cities pilot will generate technical and operational insights while evaluating an approach to recover value from mining-impacted water.
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