How to Solve the Copper Shortage | Ep 221

Sponsored by ABB – Helping industries outrun leaner and cleaner.

In this episode, Joe Batir interviews experts Matt Uddenberg, Founder and CEO, and John Redwood, Senior Process Engineer, of Skouria. They discuss the future of mineral extraction, energy efficiency, and sustainable mining. Listen in and explore how innovative in situ recovery techniques are poised to transform copper mining by drastically reducing environmental impact and unlocking deeper resource deposits.

Key Discussion Points:

• The concept of in situ recovery and its potential to revolutionize copper mining
• Differences between traditional pit mining and deep brine mining
• Current challenges of mining, including in situ recovery
• Skouria’s innovation that could enable deep brine mining
• Next steps for Scoria in resource development, modeling, and funding

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction to Scoria and deep brine mining
05:21 – The metals crunch: copper supply and demand
07:15 – How in situ leaching works and its advantages over traditional mining
11:01 – Engineering reservoir brines for efficient metal extraction
15:07 – Historical development of in situ recovery and challenges faced
23:10 – Modern deep brine mining and advances overcoming past issues
33:16 – The influence of pressure and temperature in chemical reactions underground
41:27 – Environmental savings: reducing tailings, acid mine drainage, and landscape alteration
44:37 – Next steps: resource acquisition, modeling, and project funding for Scoria
47:00 – Final Questions

Matt’s book recommendations:
Intrepid Explorer by J. David Lowell: https://a.co/d/0fI4jQ6N
The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson: https://a.co/d/0aoVh730
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: https://a.co/d/03JoievR

John’s book recommendations:
Basin and Range by John McPhee: https://a.co/d/0hr3lmV8
The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov: https://a.co/d/00FuH0RR
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan: https://a.co/d/08G6Gb2J

Show Links:
Joe Batir’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephfbatir/
Matt Uddenberg’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-uddenberg-pg-39a4158b/
John Redwood’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-halko/
Skouria’s website: https://www.skouria.com/

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