Smarter, More Sustainable
Theia Metals is pioneering a novel, more sustainable way to secure the critical materials that power modern life.
Our proprietary Protein Ion-Exchange (Protein-IEX) platform, adapted from modern biotechnology and industrial scale column-based separation processes in other sectors, separates rare earth elements into their major groups with greater efficiency, lower cost, and far less environmental impact than conventional methods.
By enabling scalable recovery from natural ores, mining tailings or drainage and recycled urban materials, Theia Metals reduces dependence on fragile, carbon-intensive supply chains while expanding access to the rare earths essential for clean energy, advanced electronics, and national security.
Through the fusion of cutting-edge science and sustainable practice, Theia Metals is building a resilient foundation for the 21st century critical materials economy.
- Selective REE separationEnables new process pathways
- Addressing critical mineral shortagesSecuring sovereign supply
- Reprocess, reuse, recycleOres, tailings and recyclates
- Environmentally friendlyESG benefits
- Lower production costGreater process efficiency
How Protein-IEX Separates Rare Earths
In a Protein-IEX column, lanmodulin binds the trivalent rare earths from pre-conditioned leachate. The non-rare-earth ions don’t bind and pass through to waste. A staged change in conditions, such as adjusting the pH, then elutes the bound rare-earth ions in sequence into different collection fractions. Each fraction is taken forward separately into additional separation steps.
Molecular scale
We start with lanmodulin
This protein grips four rare-earth ions in its EF-hand pockets, ignoring the other metals in solution.
Structure: RCSB PDB 8FNS (Mex-LanM with Nd(III)).
Nanoscale
Bound to a resin bead
Anchored to a resin bead, lanmodulin binds the rare earths and lets everything else wash past.
Packed bed
Millions of beads, one column
Countless beads pack a chromatography column: an enormous, selective surface area.
Selective capture
The liquor passes through
Leach liquor flows through: rare earths bind to the beads, the rest passes to waste.
Separation
Taken off in fractions
A staged change in conditions elutes each rare-earth group in turn, into its own stream.
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