About Theia Metals
At Theia MetalsTM, we are focused on increasing metal recovery yields and lowering costs from processing ores, tailings, e-wastes and industrial wastes. Our technology unlocks value from under-utilised assets and enhances profitability of existing operations. This opens commercially viable alternatives for sourcing critical, strategic, and precious metals globally - Make More Metals with Less!
Sustainability by Design
Our solutions are built from the ground up to reduce energy use, carbon footprint, toxic solvents, and waste. We offer a next-generation, environmentally superior alternative to current metal recovery processes.
Higher Profits, Improved ESG
We unite profitability with sustainability by combining commercially validated technologies, never previously applied to mining or metals recovery from e-wastes, with novel proprietary methods. This innovation is driven by the urgent need to "Make More Metals with Less".
Introducing Molecular Selectivity to Classical Mining and Urban Mining
Current metal recovery processes struggle with separating small amounts of valuable elements from vast excess of waste. Inspired by pharmaceutical precision, we bring molecular selectivity into metals recovery, enabling reagent-targeted beneficiation with unmatched specificity.
Bespoke Reagents and Processes
Theia Metals has developed a proprietary platform to design, produce, and deploy tailor-made peptides that selectively bind to specific minerals or metals - opening a new frontier of highly targeted and efficient resource extraction.
Scalable Peptide Manufacturing
Until now, peptide use in metals recovery was cost prohibitive. Drawing from biotech, pharma, and industrial biotech industries, Theia Metals has patented new methods for scalable, low-cost peptide production using engineered E. coli. This capability is made possible through our expert manufacturing providers.
Toward Bespoke Mining
We combine proprietary peptide discovery and production with proven technologies used with ores and e-wastes or industrial wastes. This enables selective beneficiation using reusable peptide reagents - seamlessly integrated with existing metals processing infrastructure.
The Future is Tailored
Metals recovery has long relied on general and multi-purpose chemicals. Theia Metals is pioneering the shift to bespoke, peptide-based reagents - designed for individual mines or e-waste and industrial waste processing operations, to deliver unprecedented selectivity, higher yields, and a step-change in sustainability.
Peptide - Reagents for Beneficiation
At Theia Metals, we engineer mineral or metal-selective peptides that bind specifically to target components, while avoiding unwanted gangue materials in ore, e-wastes or industrial wastes. This differential binding delivers precise selectivity crucial to improved beneficiation.
Our platform enables us to target virtually any metal or mineral. These selective peptides are covalently attached to particles such as sand, magnetite, or agarose. The particle type and size are customised to match the requirements of each beneficiation process.
Our particle-peptide combination provides two key advantages:
Separation of the bound target mineral/metal by virtue of the properties of the carrier particle (e.g., a difference in size or magnetism enables separation)
Recovery and reuse of the peptide-particles post-separation, reducing overall reagent costs
Bespoke Reagents, Built for Performance
Our next-generation reagents, comprising peptide, particle, and process, are tailored to individual ore bodies and processing requirements.
High Selectivity Under Real-World Conditions
Our peptides are designed to bind tightly and specifically to the target mineral without binding to gangue components
Performance is robust across variations in ore composition and water chemistry.
Binding is effective under pH and processing conditions compatible with upstream beneficiation steps.
Enabling New Economics
Reagents must offer substantial improvement over existing processes or enable economically unviable separations to become viable.
Significant cost reduction is a core benchmark for success.
Superior ESG Attributes
Sustainable production and lower-impact usage are central to our reagent design.
Benefits include:
Reduced energy and CO₂ footprint
No reliance on toxic organic solvents
Biodegradability and non-toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial life
Safe for worker handling (non-irritant to skin, eyes, lungs)
These advantages stem from the bio-inspired nature of peptides compared to conventional mining chemicals.
Separation Through Smart Particles
Reagent particles can be engineered for size-based or magnetic separation:
e.g., particles larger than ground ore can be sieved
Magnetite-bound peptides allow magnetic separation from gangue
This integrates capture and separation into a unified, efficient process.
Tailor-Made for Each Mine
We don’t supply off-the-shelf chemicals—we deliver customised solutions built around each mineral system, each ore body, and each process challenge.
Stable, Shippable, Site-Ready
Our reagents are formulated for easy storage, handling, and shipping under ambient mining conditions.
Industry-standard knowledge of peptide preservation ensures stability at scale and at remote sites.
Example Novel Process: Mineral-Specific Reagent on Magnetite Particles
We’ve developed a novel beneficiation process using mineral-specific peptides bound to magnetite particles - enabling magnetic separation of target minerals with significantly reduced costs.
Key Features
Strong binding to target minerals or metals; minimal interaction with gangue ensures high selectivity.
Seamless drop-in compatibility with existing magnetic separation equipment and workflows.
Performance is stable across natural variations in ore composition and water quality.
Fully compliant with environmental regulatory standards.
Sustainability & Safety
Reagents and magnetite particles are produced via low-impact processes (low energy, low CO₂, minimal water and chemical use).
Rapidly biodegradable and non-toxic to aquatic and terrestrial life.
Safe for workers - non-irritant to skin, eyes, and respiratory system.
Stable during storage, and easy to ship and handle in typical mining environments.
Cost Advantage
The process is cost-effective compared to current processes, with added benefits in ESG performance and selectivity.