Critical Mineral Opportunities

Finding Value in Waste

Extracting Additional Value from Mine Waste to Bolster US Critical Mineral Independence

Our fieldwork has proved minerals containing critical elements such as titanium, zirconium and rare earths are currently being discarded at many construction sand operations. We have demonstrated mineral recovery from these brownfield sources is technically feasible and confirmed mineral quality meets domestic customer specifications. Recovering critical minerals from waste would improve mine economics, enhance resource stewardship and provide critical mineral supply for our national defense and security.

Existing Sand Mine Operations

We work with fully permitted, active sand mines

Quarries contain sand-rich layers typically tens of feet thick.

Sand wash plants remove fine-grained silt and clay and produce sand for construction applications (roads, concrete, water filtration).

Waste materials (silt and clay) from the wash plant are impounded and used as backfill. At some mines, these impoundments are rich in critical minerals.

Heavy mineral spiral separators use gravity and water to separate minerals  based on their density.

Heavy minerals are recovered from mine waste without chemicals.

Here, you can see the microscopic view of valuable heavy minerals including  monazite, zircon and rutile.

Greenfield Exploration

Underexplored alluvial sand districts with potential for large critical mineral deposits

Minerals containing rare earths, titanium and zirconium occur in sand deposits largely ignored in the past due to lack of a domestic market for rare earth minerals.  Past US government and private reports indicate significant potential for rare earth and critical minerals in the southeast USA from free-flowing sand formations which have been worked in the region for over 100 years using low-cost gravity separation and with no harmful chemicals.

Advantages of Extracting Critical Minerals from Mineral Sand Deposits

  • Relatively shallow open-pit mines

  • Minerals already liberated → no need to blast, crush, grind

  • No chemicals needed → mineral products sorted by inherent physical properties

  • Relatively low capital and operating costs using off-the-shelf technology

  • Sustainability → land is reclaimed to near original condition upon conclusion of mining

  • Multiple mineral product revenue streams reduce risk to a single mineral’s price fluctuations

Exploration soil sampling targets sand formations >15 feet thick.

Concentrated heavy minerals can be identified in the field using water and a gold pan, providing immediate feedback and enabling rapid decisions without waiting for laboratory results.

An effective tool for heavy mineral exploration is mapping abundant heavy mineral (dark) concentrations in drainage ditches.