Arca Climate Technologies this month signed a 10-year agreement.
The decade-long agreement grants Arca an exclusive right to evaluate the potential of the ultramafic waste rock and mine tailings at the Turnagain Nickel Project in British Columbia with an aim remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Based in Vancouver, Arca is an Industrial Mineralization company that leverages pre-existing infrastructure and alkaline waste to accelerate the natural process of carbon mineralization.
The company, founded on pioneering research from Dr. Greg Dipple at the University of British Columbia, is working with Giga Metals Corporation and the Mitsubishi Corporation on the Turnagain Project.
Giga Metals estimates that approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of ultramafic material will be generated at the site once mining commences.
Arca’s technologies activate minerals found in ultramafic rock, accelerating the natural geochemical process of carbon mineralization, which transforms atmospheric CO2 into stable solid mineral form.
Nickel, meanwhile, was identified as a “critical mineral” by the Canadian government in 2022.
“As Canada seeks to strengthen our economy and our position as a leading producer of critical minerals, Turnagain stands out as one of the largest undeveloped nickel resources in the country,” stated Paul Needham, chief executive officer of Arca.
Needham estimates that the deployment of Arca technologies on site will create the lifetime potential to remove up to 220 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Giga Metals has “been working with Arca Principals on carbon sequestration for more than a decade,” according to Scott Lendrum, chief executive officer of Giga Metals.
“We are pleased to formalize our arrangement,” Lendrum stated, “to allow both companies to focus on what they do best: produce nickel concentrate with high ESG credentials, and maximize the permanent sequestration of carbon dioxide by converting mine waste into reactive sequestration minerals.”
Working with Arca “allows us to evaluate emerging technologies that could enhance the environmental and conomic performance of the Turnagain Project while supporting innovation in the mining sector,” he added.
By “pairing critical minerals development with permanent carbon dioxide removal,” Needham posits that “Giga Metals and Arca will demonstrate a new mining paradigm with enhanced project economics and broader societal benefit.”
Last year, Arca signed an offtake agreement with Microsoft to deliver 300,000 tonnes of durable carbon dioxide removal.
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