MIRARCO Mining Innovation will receive $280,000 in grant money through the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) Network, a program focused on developing initiatives for the commercialization of mining technology to increase productivity and sustainability within the mining sector. The funding will be used to help develop and complete pilot testing of BacTech's novel bioleaching process relevant to the treatment of pyrrhotite to advance the recovery of Nickel and Cobalt battery metals. Pyrrhotite is a very volatile sulphide mineral containing nickel and cobalt values that oxidizes rapidly and produces large amounts of Iron and Sulphur components as by- products which are typically considered as wastes.

Pyrrhotite tailings used in testing will be provided to MIRARCO by industry partner Vale.