Sudbury researcher Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk has been tapped to provide her expertise in mine remediation at a battery metals exploration property in Québec.
Mykytczuk has been named technical advisor on the Surimeau Battery Metals Project project owned by Renforth Resources Inc.
Her focus will be on the “research and development of responsible and sustainable technology and practices for the processing of mineralized material at Surimeau in the future,” according to the company.
Nicole Brewster, Renforth’s president and CEO, said while it’s “risky” for a junior mining company to undertake R&D without a mineral resource statement yet in place, doing the work now will be beneficial in the long run.
Renforth said it expects the R&D and geological timelines “will converge at some point in the future.”
"I am very happy that Renforth will have the privilege of directly working with Dr. Mykytczuk as we take inspiration from operating mines in Europe and work to implement it in Canada, for the first time, and work towards producing battery chemistry, in Québec, a province which is supportive of mining in general, and critical minerals in particular,” Brewster said in a news release.
“Our foray into direct R&D is, I think, fairly unique for a junior exploration company, but we are fortunate to have a very unique property in Surimeau which supports this effort with the mineralization in the ground, and our corporate desire to innovate and do better in terms of the development of this property and our willingness to embrace new technology in the mining space.”
Mykytczuk is known for her work in the biomining and bioremediation of mine sites using bacteria that “eat” metals left behind after processing.
In recognition of her work, she received the Innovation Award from Northern Ontario Business in 2022.
Mykytczuk is president and CEO of MIRARCO Mining Innovation, the executive director of the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University, and an NOHFC Industrial Research Chair in Biomining and Bioremediation.
She is currently working to establish a Centre for Mine Waste Biotechnology, which would give researchers specializing in mine waste strategies a space to test their technologies and fast-track them toward commercialization.
Renforth said it intends to become a member at the Centre, and that the work done there would help the company prove that the mineralization at the Surimeau property would be conducive to bioleaching.
Surimeau encompasses 330 square kilometres of land west of the Canadian Malartic open-pit gold mine, with surface mineralization including nickel, cobalt, copper, zinc, silver, gold and lithium.
