Low Carbon Hydrogen

Electrolyzer enabled extraction process for on-site copper and hydrogen production

THE PROBLEM

 In 2023, the global copper demand was 27 million tonnes, with about 19 million tonnes sourced from open pit copper mining. The market is expected to grow by 20% within ten years, leading to a copper deficit exceeding 6 million tonnes due to limited sourcing, energy, and environmental challenges.

More than 80% of the world’s copper deposits are classified as sulfide ores. Canada mines 530,000 tonnes of copper annually with 430,000 tonnes sourced from open pit mines. Two-thirds of the mined materials are below the cut-off grade and classified as waste rocks. These waste rocks contain the same amount of extractable copper but are currently not processable.

THE SOLUTION

Producing copper by processing waste rocks is the key to meeting the increasing demand challenges of the future energy transition. pH7 is focused on processing those materials, significantly contributing to the production of copper.

pH7 has developed a proprietary and sustainable closed-loop organo-electrochemical copper extraction process. This process not only increases copper extraction by up to 50%, but also produces green hydrogen through its patent-pending organo-acidic electrolyzers.

With funding support from CICE, pH7 is building an industrial prototype to demonstrate how its technology increases on-site copper production and revenue by extracting copper trapped in low-grade ores and tailings. The green hydrogen produced can be collected and used as a fuel for the mine. When pH7’s process is adopted in Canada, it could potentially add over 80,000 tonnes to the country’s current copper capacity and generate over a billion dollars in revenue.

PROJECT STATUS
Active
PROJECT CATEGORY
Low Carbon Hydrogen
FUNDING RECIPIENT
pH7 Technologies
CICE FUNDING AMOUNT
$1,000,000
PROJECT VALUE
$2,560,750
  • “This project offers a sustainable and innovative solution for an incremental production of copper and green hydrogen vital to the energy transition of the future. The CICE funding is critical for the project to proceed without any delay due to financial challenges."
    Mohammad Doostmohammadi, CEO of pH7 Technologies DISCOVER PH7 TECHNOLOGIES