Grant: Canada Research Chairs

Dr. Wilson and her/their research group at the University of Alberta are developing new approaches to mining that work with the Earth to minimize waste and accelerate remediation while removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Mineral resources are essential to Canada's economic prosperity, employing nearly 700,000 people and contributing 5% of the nation's gross domestic product. Canada has rich deposits of critical metals –– metals that are needed to build wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles for the clean energy transition. Decarbonizing global energy production is essential to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and more mining is needed to build the infrastructure of the green economy. Owing to Canada's leadership in mineral resources, Canadians have an outsized role to play in supplying critical metals while finding solutions that make mining carbon neutral. Many types of critical metals are found in rocks that naturally react with atmospheric carbon dioxide, trapping this greenhouse gas in carbonate minerals. Carbonate minerals are the main components of seashells and common rocks such as limestone that naturally store most of the carbon on Earth. Dr. Wilson is building a large-scale demonstration project that will use carbon dioxide for ore processing, permanently trapping it in carbonate minerals while nearly doubling recovery of nickel and cobalt to make batteries. The resulting carbonate minerals can be used to make building materials while the processed ore has properties similar to a primitive soil. Dr. Wilson is also identifying non-traditional rocks and minerals that can be used for carbon sequestration, expanding the applicability of this technology to new types of mines. At the same time, she will develop novel methods that ensure carbon dioxide is stored efficiently and permanently in the most stable possible minerals. Dr. Wilson's research will transfer lessons across the mining life cycle to build more sustainable mines that recover more of the critical metals we need for the clean energy transition while producing less waste and providing carbon dioxide removal and storage as a service to society.