Green Manganese announced this month that it has successfully completed initial metallurgical test work.
The company’s closed-loop, water-based process recovers manganese and other minerals from low-grade ores and legacy and industrial tailings that conventional smelting cannot treat economically.
The test demonstrated that Green Manganese’s proprietary hydro-metallurgical process can recover multiple critical metals from poly-metallic nodules through an integrated process.
The Canadian critical minerals processing upstart reported over 90% recovery of manganese, nickel, cobalt, and copper simultaneously.
These are core inputs across battery and electronics supply chains worldwide.
“What makes polymetallic nodules so compelling is that several critical metals are concentrated in a single rock,” explains chief executive officer Alexey Demykin.
“Instead of forcing a next-generation multi-metal feedstock into legacy technologies built for single ores, this new era of critical minerals demands a fundamental shift in processing,” the CEO believes.
Unlike conventional processing methods, Green Manganese’s platform is engineered to extract all principal critical metals from nodules via one integrated system, according to Demykin—all while using up to five times less energy.
“By extracting manganese, nickel, cobalt, and copper in one integrated hydrometallurgical circuit, we bypass energy-intensive thermal stages entirely—delivering a streamlined, low-emission pathway to multiple high-value products,” he said.
Founded in Vancouver in 2024 by Demykin alongside Maria Poltorak, Green Manganese Technologies has been recognized by Foresight’s EarthTech2050 program and was awarded BC CleanTech 2025 Startup of the Year; it also garnered capital from regional investor NorthX Climate Tech.