Engineered Mineral Carbonation
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CET’s breakthrough mineral carbonation technology delivers scalable and verifiable carbon storage.
Designed for seamless integration into existing systems, our reactor technology has demonstrable performance, with low energy requirements and significant CO2 storage capacity – capable of delivering over one million tonnes of CO2 storage per site each year.
CCDR - How we do it
Mineral carbonation is a natural process in which calcium-, magnesium-, and iron- rich silicate minerals weather and react with CO2 to form chemically stable carbonate minerals that store carbon for millennia.
In nature, this process occurs slowly – over geological timescales.
CET’s proprietary Cambrian Carbon Dioxide Removal (CCDR) process accelerates this reaction, enabling industrial-scale, permanent CO2 storage.
CCDR Process
The CCDR process is a breakthrough in mineral carbonation. Built on TRL 9 components, it offers a scalable and commercially viable opportunity for CDR on a giga tonne scale.
Designed to integrate seamlessly into existing industrial mineral processing piping systems. Our reactor design provides high energy dissipation in the fluid, resulting in a high shear turbulent environment.
This environment is optimal for dispersing the gas and activating the surface of the particles to accelerate the reaction.
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Waste Feedstock | Mining Tailings, steel slag, or coal fly ash supply mineral material
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CO2 Injection | Fine bubbles introduced in high-shear environment, can be connected to DAC or other biogenic capture sources for CDR
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Mineral Polishing | Increased reactivity, process is greatly accelerated by reducing passivation on mineral surfaces
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Mineral Carbonation | CO2 permanently locked in stable carbonate minerals
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MRV
The CCDR process operates as a closed system, enabling precise quantification of carbon removal through targeted measurements of CO2 inputs, outputs and feedstock composition. This provides high confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the storage of CO2.
Our MRV protocol fits EU regulations for our storage to be counted under EU Emission Trading Scheme, and is verifiable by third parties for CDR.
The sampling and testing points identified in the process description provide data on the change in composition of the mineral feedstock to measure the increase in carbonate minerals.
The dissolution of silicates and formation of stable carbonate minerals demonstrates that durable carbon removal has occurred because of the process.
Precise | Traceable | Verifiable | Low Cost | Transparent
Product
Compliance-grade carbon credits, produced as a result of reacting CO2 from industrial source points with mineral feedstock to form stable carbonates.
EU regulation supports storage through mineral carbonation under EU ETS, recognised as an approved storage pathway.
This process could allow companies to discount emissions, as the CO2 has been durably stored, resulting in a net reduction in emissions and progress towards carbon-neutral goals as early as 2030.
CDR credits could be created for by attaching a Direct Air Capture (DAC), or other biogenic CO2 capture source, upstream. These credits would be for the permanent removal of CO2 directly from the atmosphere.
Beyond credit generation and meaningful climate change mitigation, CET delivers an integrated value stack: carbon credits, but also operational expenditure savings: reduced tailings liability, circular economy use of material (usable waste), benefits for closure.
Mineral carbonation has been shown to improve the geochemical and geotechnical properties of materials. Waste valorisation using the CCDR process can decrease stability risk, increasing opportunities on-site for co-disposal and back pasting. Additionally, carbonation has been shown as a low-cost tool for AMD mitigation.
Enhanced ESG performance with tangible progress to net-zero for Partners.
CET creates both climate and commercial value – transforming waste into a fungible asset that delivers durable carbon storage, regulatory compliance and long-term operational savings.
Mineral Feedstock
CCDR is a scalable mass transfer technology system that can operate at active and legacy mine sites anywhere in the world where appropriate feedstock exists.
Mineral carbonation involves the weathering of calcium, magnesium, and iron oxide silicate minerals. Alkaline hosted rocks such as mafic and ultra-mafic rocks contain high levels of these minerals. Ultramafic and mafic igneous rocks often minerals such olivine, wollastonite and serpentine are potential feedstocks for carbonation.
Current horizon mine wastes, where the host rocks of the ore deposit are ultramafic and mafic and contain reactive mineral compounds such as calcium, magnesium, iron oxides etc., present megaton carbon capture opportunities.
The CCDR process is compatible with other mineral feedstocks such as steel slag, or coal fly ash, further expanding its potential applications across heavy industry.
Extensive geotechnical, geochemical, mineralogical and elemental characterisation has been carried out on samples from various sites, as part of previous studies, to show compatibility and carbon capture potential.
CO2 Source
The Cambrian Carbon Dioxide Removal (CCDR) process is technology aiming to reduce emissions for mine sites by reacting CO2 from existing (hard-to-abate) industrial source points (e.g. smelters, refineries, power stations etc.).
The CCDR process will result in the durable storage of CO2, sourced from industrial processes such as smelting, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere. This provides a clear pathway for mining companies to reduce their emissions, through in-setting.
CO2 can also be sourced directly from the atmosphere by integrating DAC or other biogenic CO2 capture processes upstream.