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MIRARCO Mining Innovation has launched a 10,000-square-foot piloting facility in Sudbury, supported by a $5 million grant from Natural Resources Canada. This facility will focus on bioleaching to extract nickel, cobalt, and copper from mine tailings valued at $8 billion to $10 billion.

Vale has committed $875,000 over five years for collaborative projects at the facility, which currently processes pyrrhotite tailings. MIRARCO plans to expand its capacity for various mining waste solutions, while fundraising for a larger Centre for Mine Waste Biotechnology, estimated to cost nearly $40 million, is ongoing with a potential completion by 2029.