Vancouver’s Arca is moving to commercialize a new class of carbon removal credits through a collaboration with Carbon Direct, positioning the company at the forefront of an emerging market for durable, high-integrity climate solutions.
The partnership will bring Arca’s Industrial Mineralization (IMin) technology to market, converting carbon dioxide into stable minerals using waste from mining and heavy industry. The approach leverages existing industrial infrastructure, offering a scalable pathway to remove CO₂ while minimizing additional energy and equipment requirements.
Arca’s system has already been validated at field scale, including an 18-month pilot with mining giant BHP that demonstrated net CO₂ removal at an active site. The company is now advancing toward broader deployment, with new projects in development and a partnership in Western Australia with the Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation.
The commercialization effort comes as demand for high-quality carbon removal credits accelerates, particularly from large technology buyers. Arca has already secured early commitments from Frontier and a 10-year carbon removal offtake agreement with Microsoft covering nearly 300,000 tonnes.
Carbon Direct will act as a co-developer on future projects, bringing scientific expertise and carbon market validation to ensure credits meet rigorous standards for durability, measurement, and verification—an increasingly critical requirement as the voluntary carbon market matures.
For Arca, the opportunity extends beyond carbon markets. The company is targeting one of mining’s largest environmental challenges: the management of alkaline waste. By accelerating a natural mineralization process that would otherwise take thousands of years, Arca transforms that waste into a long-term carbon storage solution.
With billions of tonnes of suitable mining waste generated annually worldwide, the company sees a path to scale alongside global industrial operations. If successful, Arca’s approach could help redefine how heavy industry participates in the energy transition—turning a legacy liability into a revenue-generating climate asset.
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