We break rocks for

Critical Mineral Mining

Electrical Reservoir Stimulation for the Energy Transition

Reducing mineral recovery energy consumption

Increasing low grade ore mineral recovery

Reducing tailings from mineral beneficiation

Reducing energy consumption for mineral recovery

Increasing mineral recovery from low grade ores

Reducing tailings from mineral beneficiation

Unlocking the Potential of Sustainable Mining

Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition

Sought after minerals, including copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel, and others are used to manufacture products like cell phones, rechargeable batteries, fluorescent lighting, catalytic converters, and more. As demand for these products continues to grow, traditional mining processes can’t keep up.

Crushing and grinding of mineral ore (rock), also known as mineral comminution, currently consumes 4% of the world’s energy. The U.S. Department of Energy aims to reduce comminution energy by 50% by accelerating the development of novel rock preconditioning and in-situ mining technologies.

The Problem–Comminution Energy

Mineral Processing Consumes 4% of World’s Energy

Critical mineral ore grades are degrading, while the demand for these critical minerals is increasing. More energy is required to recovery minerals from low grade ores.

The mining industry needs efficient, cost-effective technologies to decarbonize the mineral recovery process. Technologies for preconditioning mineral ore can reduce rock hardness and minimize rock fragment size to significantly decrease comminution energy for mining operations.

The Solution–Rock Preconditioning

Eden’s Technology Reduces Comminution Energy

Pre-fracturing mineral ores before transportation to processing facilities can drastically reduce the total energy consumed in the crushing and grinding process.

Electrical Reservoir Stimulation preconditions mineral ores by creating micro fractures before the ores are excavated. This results in smaller rock particles and fragments which are easier to crush and grind.

The Problem – In-Situ Mining

Critical Mineral Demand 10x Increase by 2040

High grade mineral ore bodies are too deep below ground to be accessed with traditional mining methods. There are enough critical minerals in deep ore deposits to meet growing demand.
‍
In-situ mining is a method to recover minerals by injecting chemical lixiviants in the subsurface and recovering a mineral rich solution through production wells. However, ore bodies have naturally low permeability which limits the mineral recovery rate.

The Solution – In-Situ Mining

Eden’s Technology Increases Ore Permeability

In-situ fracturing increases the reaction surface area between the chemical lixiviant and the target minerals which leads to higher recovery rates.

Electrical Reservoir Stimulation creates dense micro-fracture networks in subsurface ore bodies to enable effective in-situ mining. Transitioning to in-situ mining methods will eliminate tailings from mining operations.

Environmental Impact

In-situ mining decreases the footprint of surface facilities by 90%

100% of tailings associated with surface mining operations can be eliminated

Active permeability management allows ore bodies to be mined for more than 10 years

Decreasing Grades of Critical Minerals Accessible with Surface and Tunnel Mining

Source: Stephen Lezak, Charles Cannon and, Thomas KochBlank, Low-Carbon Metals for a Low-Carbon World: A New Energy Paradigm forMines, Rocky Mountain Institute, 2019, http://www.rmi.org/

See How You Can Build a Cleaner Future with Eden

Learn more