Sucking up CO2Turn mine waste into climate gold.
Big Picture
Metals are key to a low-carbon future, but it can take 100-200 tons of rock mined to extract one ton of ore. Churning out megatons of waste each year decimates local ecosystems and pumps out as much CO₂. Some of this waste, or “mine tailings,” naturally undergoes a chemical reaction that traps CO₂ from the air as solid rock. If sped up, tailings could be one of Earth’s largest permanent carbon sinks hiding in plain sight.
How it Works
Arca’s suite of technologies speeds up the reactivity of mine tailings for permanent carbon removal. Proprietary tailing activation reactors use bursts of energy to accelerate the natural chemical process by 10-50x. Autonomous rovers also churn tailing surfaces, exposing the activated tailings to more air to convert atmospheric CO₂ directly into metal carbonates, stably storing the carbon away for millennia.
Unfair Advantage
Arca enables mining operations to “inset” with CDR, turning liabilities into revenue-generating assets. This unlocks access to hundreds of mines in production and legacy and buried tailings, together representing 40 GTs of potential CO₂ storage. Paired with Arca’s accelerated mineralization technology and robust verification systems, tailings present a swift path to gigaton-scale carbon removal.
40
Gigatons of CO₂
storage potential in mine tailings
PAUL NEEDHAM CEO
Paul is a serial entrepreneur with three exits. He previously built a solar leasing company in India. He holds an MPhil in Economics from Cambridge.
GREG DIPPLE HEAD OF SCIENCE
Greg is a global leader in carbon removal with mine tailings. He is a Professor of Geological Sciences at University of British Columbia.
Arca tests removing carbon dioxide at BHP’s nickel mine in Australia
The Globe and Mail
A pathway to carbon-negative mining
Canadian Mining Journal
Cleantech startup aims to transform mine waste into a ‘climate solution’
Mining.com