26^th February, 2026– Altilium, a UK-based clean technology group focused on supporting the transition to net zero, has today announced the filing of a patent for its proprietary EcoMineral™ hydrometallurgical process, a breakthrough green chemistry for the recovery of copper from mine tailings and other unconventional feedstocks.

In parallel, the company has launched ReOre Technologies, a new venture dedicated to the recovery of critical and strategic materials from mine waste, leveraging Altilium’s extensive expertise in the processing of EV battery scrap.

By transforming what was once considered waste into a critical resource, Altilium is supporting the development of new supply chains for copper and other valuable raw materials essential to the energy transition and economic growth, while reducing the environmental impact of mining.

In the UK alone, yearly demand for copper is anticipated to almost double between now and 2035, according to the government’s new Critical Mineral Strategy, leading to concerns about potential copper shortfalls.

The EcoMineral™ technology has been developed at Altilium’s ACT1 R&D facility in the UK and builds on extensive learnings from the company’s EV battery recycling operations. The technology is particularly targeted at the recovery of copper from low-grade ores and legacy tailings that are typically considered uneconomic or technically challenging to process.

Kamran Mahdavi, CEO of Altilium, commented: “The development of our EcoMineral™ process and the launch of ReOre Technologies are important milestones in Altilium’s mission to secure sustainable supplies of critical raw materials from existing waste streams. By unlocking copper and other valuable metals that are economically dormant in billions of tonnes of tailings around the world, we are not only addressing growing supply shortfalls but also redefining waste as a strategic resource for the energy transition.”

While classified as waste, many tailings still contain valuable minerals that were not recoverable using historic processing methods. Global mine tailings production is estimated at 8 to 10 billion tonnes per year, representing a significant underutilised source of copper and other growth, critical and strategic metals.

Altilium has completed an internal R&D programme for the technology focused on copper recovery from its Medet tailings site, one of the largest resources of copper tailings in Eastern Europe. The 2,200-hectare site contains approximately 110 million metric tonnes of waste material. Trials have demonstrated direct copper leaching efficiencies of up to 70%, highlighting the strong potential of the EcoMineral™ chemistry for unlocking value from low-grade tailings previously considered marginal or uneconomic.

Building on these results, ongoing screening studies are evaluating the broader applicability of the EcoMineral™ platform across a range of feedstocks and target metals, including nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese.

ReOre Technologies will now focus on deploying EcoMineral™ and related technologies to extract value from mine tailings and other waste streams, including the Medet tailings.

EcoMineral™ employs a proprietary green-chemistry-based lixiviant system capable of dissolving copper under near-neutral pH conditions. This approach minimises reagent consumption, avoids the generation of acidic effluents and enables operation at ambient pressure and low temperatures – substantially improving safety, cost-efficiency and deployment.

Another key differentiator of the EcoMineral™ process is the biodegradable nature of its lixiviants. Their breakdown products are benign and can act as nutrients within natural ecosystems, making the process especially well suited to in situ and in-place leaching applications where interaction with surrounding soils and groundwater is unavoidable, contributing to the ecological viability and recovery of such locations.

Copper is essential to the electrification of transport, as well renewable energy systems, and has been identified by the UK government as a growth mineral vital for the future of UK-based manufacturing. It represents around 11% of an NMC battery by weight, primarily in the anode current collector, and is also critical to electric motors, grid infrastructure and charging systems. Yet current global production levels are insufficient to meet projected demand, with significant supply shortfalls expected by 2030.

By sourcing copper from tailings and other unconventional feedstocks, Altilium and ReOre Technologies aim to help bridge this supply gap while minimising the need for new hard rock mining operations. Recovering metals from existing waste streams also provides a significantly faster route to market than developing new mines, which can take decades from discovery to production.