TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: Bioengineered Peptide Platform for Low-Water Critical Mineral Recovery
ENERGY, DEPARTMENT OF
Who can apply
No Set aside used. NONE
About this opportunity
This Bioengineered Peptide Platform enables selective recovery of high-value critical minerals from dilute and complex process streams using a bioengineered, low-chemical, low-water approach that integrates directly into existing bioleach operations. As demand for critical minerals accelerates across clean energy, electronics and defense sectors, mining operators need more efficient and sustainable enrichment methods. This platform offers a biologically enabled preconcentration step that can unlock value from low-grade ores and complex streams while reducing environmental impact. The Challenge: Critical mineral recovery from bioleach and hydrometallurgical circuits faces persistent bottlenecks: High reagent consumption in solvent extraction (SX), ion exchange (IX), and precipitation steps ...