Grant: Alliance Grants

With many countries around the world seeking to achieve a global transition to environmental sustainability and net-zero emissions, there is a drive to develop new practices in the many industries that provide natural resources and goods relied upon in people's daily lives. The proposed research seeks to develop tools that would allow for Canadian mining companies to expedite the adoption and implementation of environmentally friendly technologies used for extracting precious metals and critical minerals in their operations, both domestically and abroad. This would allow for challenges brought forward by existing technologies to be addressed: reducing the amount of toxic chemicals used, mitigating risks for negative impacts on the environment, and enlarging the scope in which these technologies can be applied by extending the life of existing mines and being able to extract further resources from waste and tailings. To meet these goals, we will use quantum-chemistry methods to determine the feasibility of organometallic complexes forming during metal extraction. The results will provide insight into the fundamental chemistry involved in metal extraction, allowing for industrial-scale processes to be tailored for maximum efficiency and sustainability, and to be applied to a diverse range of metals important in modern technologies