Rio Tinto backs six startups in high-tech bid for cleaner mining of lithium, copper

British VC fund Founders Factory has launched the Mining Tech Accelerator in partnership with Rio Tinto, as the metals giant seeks to find better ways to cash-in on surging demand for lithium, copper, and other materials critical to the clean transition.

In April, Rio Tinto committed 14.4mn Australian dollars (€8.8mn) to the accelerator, which will support pre-seed and seed-stage startups over the next three years. The partners unveiled the first cohort of six startups today. The fledgling companies will now enter a four-month programme that will conclude in Perth, Australia in December.  

“We understand the vast opportunity ahead in decarbonising and technologically transforming one of the world’s most important industries — mining,” said Henry Lane Fox, CEO of Founders Factory. 

The six startups include Denver, US-based Endolith, which uses microbes for a greener way to increase copper recovery from low-grade ores, and Cambridge, UK-headquartered ProSpectural, which is building low-cost spectral cameras that can “see” the composition of materials lying beneath the Earth’s surface. 

Cashing-in on lithium

Then there’s Magmatic, from Austria. The startup is cultivating a “library” of metal-binding proteins that extract lithium from natural saltwater brines — no mining required.   

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As the world electrifies, demand for lithium-ion batteries is booming, for use in everything from smartphones to EVs. As a result, the global demand for lithium is predicted to more than quadruple by 2030. 

This is a trend that hasn’t gone unnoticed to the likes of Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest metals and mining corporation. Today, the British-Australian corporation announced the acquisition of Ireland-based Arcadium Lithium, a lithium producer born in January from the Allkem-Livent merger.    

Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said the acquisition would allow the firm to create a “world-class lithium business alongside our leading aluminium and copper operations to supply materials needed for the energy transition.”

The push into the lithium business comes as Rio tries to make its mining operations — marred by a poor track record of environmental compliance — more sustainable.  

No doubt it’s investment into startups focusing on cleaner, more efficient mining techniques is part of this green push. Arcadium is also an expert in so-called direct lithium extraction (DLE) — a technique with a smaller environmental footprint than traditional methods.

Rio Tinto’s latest investments make one thing clear: the future of mining will be driven by technology, and with environmental regulation tightening, those who innovate cleaner solutions will be best positioned to lead the pack.