12th November, 2026 – ReOre Technologies, an Altilium group company focused on recovery of critical minerals from mining waste, has today announced that it will lead a new government-backed project that seeks to unlock domestic supplies of nickel, cobalt and copper, helping the UK to reduce its reliance on imported critical materials and supporting the development of a sovereign battery materials supply chain.

The two-year CASCADE project, which brings together ReOre with Aberdeen Minerals and Camborne School of Mines, has secured grant funding of £1.4m through the UK government’s Battery Innovation Programme, delivered by Innovate UK and supported by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

Leveraging ReOre’s patent-pending EcoMineral™ technology, an innovative hydrometallurgical process that uses a biodegradable, non-toxic chemistry, the project will focus on the sustainable recovery of nickel, cobalt and copper contained in sulphide mineral concentrates extracted from Aberdeen Minerals’ Arthrath Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project in Aberdeenshire, which contains the UK’s largest-scale nickel prospect.

While the UK has untapped domestic nickel and cobalt prospects, it currently has no primary extraction of these critical materials and lacks the processing capability needed to turn them into products suitable for the battery supply chain. This leaves strategically important industries, such as the automotive sector, advanced manufacturing and defence, dependent on imported raw materials and overseas processing.

Aberdeen Minerals is a leading explorer for nickel and cobalt in the UK and has already carried out successful drilling and geophysics programmes confirming the potential for high value deposits in Northeast Scotland. CASCADE seeks to build on this work by demonstrating a low-cost and environmentally compatible processing route for the eventual extraction and refinement of these critical minerals, transforming them into high-value products suitable for direct supply to UK industry.

Research partner Camborne School of Mines, a world-class combined geoscience and mining school, will provide expertise in innovative mineral processing to develop sustainable recovery routes for nickel and cobalt, and investigate UK mine waste and other secondary feedstocks as additional sources of battery metals.

Toby French, Business Lead at ReOre Technologies, commented: “Developing responsible domestic primary resources alongside recycling will be essential for the UK
to build a resilient and competitive battery materials supply chain. CASCADE is an opportunity to connect domestic mineral resources with innovative UK processing technology and downstream battery manufacturing. Our ambition is to demonstrate a sovereign pathway that keeps more of the critical minerals value chain here in Britain – from resource extraction and refining through to the production of high-value battery materials.”

ReOre’s innovative EcoMineral™ process is designed to recover critical metals from challenging feedstocks using a biodegradable, non-toxic chemistry. The process operates at ambient pressure and low temperatures, avoiding the aggressive conditions associated with many conventional extraction technologies and offering the potential for lower energy consumption, environmental impact and processing costs. The chemistry is also capable of processing a variety of feedstocks, including end-of-life products and mine waste.

Altilium will play a key role in validating the nickel and cobalt products recovered through the EcoMineral™ process, assessing their suitability for use in the UK battery materials supply chain.

Successful delivery of the project will establish a clear pathway for phased scale-up of the process from laboratory to pilot, as well as support development options for integrated nickel, cobalt and copper production in Aberdeenshire.

Fraser Gardiner, CEO, Aberdeen Minerals, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with ReOre and Camborne School of Mines on the CASCADE project. Developing and scaling environmentally sound processing technologies for UK sourced nickel-cobalt raw materials opens up sustainable pathways for mineral development in Aberdeenshire and elsewhere and is a crucial step to securing truly sovereign supply chains for strategic industrial sectors. We are grateful to Innovate UK for supporting this innovative approach with grant funding.”

Nickel and cobalt are key components of high-performance EV batteries, while copper is equally critical to electrification, with large quantities used in EVs and charging infrastructure. Demand for these materials is expected to rise sharply as UK battery manufacturing ramps up. According to the Advanced Propulsion Centre, UK production of EVs is forecast to require approximately 38,000 tonnes of nickel and 4,900 tonnes of cobalt annually by 2035.

Beyond primary mining, the project will also explore how ReOre’s EcoMineral technology could potentially unlock critical minerals from legacy and new UK waste streams. This work will be led by Camborne School of Mines, which will also carry out sample characterisation and mineral processing testwork using its suite of analytical laboratories located in Cornwall, including the £3.5m Critical Minerals Equipment Hub.

Dr Rich Crane, Associate Professor of Sustainable Mining at Camborne School of Mines, commented: “The UK has substantial untapped mineral resources, but securing them is not simply a question of finding new deposits; it also requires more sustainable approaches for their extraction. CASCADE brings together innovative mineral characterisation and processing technology to tackle this challenge. This is a crucial step towards building more resilient and sustainable mineral supply chains.”

The UK Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy – Vision 2035 sets targets for at least 10% of annual UK critical mineral demand to be met through domestic production and 20% through recycling by 2035, while reducing dependence on individual overseas suppliers. By developing a direct route from mine site to manufacturing of higher value battery metals in the UK, CASCADE will help establish the sovereign processing capabilities needed to achieve these ambitions, retaining greater economic value domestically, creating skilled jobs and strengthening the security and resilience of strategically important British industries.

About ReOre Technologies

ReOre Technologies is an Altilium group company positioned at the forefront of responsible resource recovery, turning legacy waste into resilient supply. The company is focused on developing a sustainable European supply chain for copper and other critical raw materials from a range of primary and secondary feedstocks.

For more information go to www.reore.tech

About Aberdeen Minerals

Aberdeen Minerals is a privately funded mineral exploration company based in North East Scotland. The company is investing in staged exploration programmes combining modern geological models, cutting-edge technologies and global expertise to target high value resources of the critical minerals essential to the UK’s economy, national security, and clean energy transition.

About Camborne School of Mines

Camborne School of Mines (CSM) is an internationally recognised centre for research and education spanning geoscience, mining and mineral resources. These domains play a pivotal role in tackling major global challenges, from securing the minerals needed for the energy transition to reducing the environmental impacts of resource extraction and supporting more sustainable resource use.