The company that wants to make mining a clean process

Eva María Laín (Madrid, 33 years old) played alchemist in her free time in the laboratory at the University of Cambridge, where she was studying a doctorate in Biotechnology and, almost without intending to, she opened a path that the mining industry had been seeking for 80 years. She tried to obtain pure metal from primary minerals in an effective, sustainable and profitable way, with a different leaching (dissolution) method. Instead of force and aggressive conditions, she applied electricity and “craft.” There are already profitable commercial leaching processes for secondary type minerals (those that are more oxidized, more exposed to air), which represent 20% of world reserves. But, until now, for the other 80% (the primary minerals, harder to extract) there was no similar method, which crystallized in the company Lain Tech.

“My studies had nothing to do with that, I like very different things and I wanted to experiment,” smiles Laín, who also speaks five languages ​​(some Chinese included). The researcher baptized her discovery as E-Lix—electroleaching—she patented it and developed a strategy, which she started with a lot of solo work, her own financing and without subsidies. “I didn't have much luck with grants, but I didn't really want to give too many hints about what I was doing,” she says. When she had the project put together, she approached the Riotinto mines, she introduced him to the mining giant Atalaya Mining and convinced him. Of course, she had to cover all the expenses to build and test a miniature model, which took her two more years, 14,000 euros of her own savings "and going out to look for recycled parts or Leroy Merlin, instead of going shopping." .

In practice, Laín's technology, in addition to savings in the entire production process, promised to make hundreds of deposits viable and profitable that are not viable today.

After the success of its pilot plant, Atalaya, yes, entered fully into the project, lending the young woman two million euros to set up the company and hire the first 12 workers (today there are 40). Two years later, she has obtained another 20 million (from the mining company and banks) to build her first operational plant, which last December just offered the first results. E-Lix can produce pure copper and zinc, with zero waste, without emissions, with minimal water consumption and without extreme conditions (abrasive, pressure, oxidizing, acidic...). “After nine years of technology scaling and risk elimination, we can now say it. We have obtained better results than expected,” says the Madrid engineer who has been awarded the Andalusian Medal for Research, Science and Health.

Eva María Laín (second from left), founder of Lain Tech, with her team.

In Spain, (pure) metal copper is not produced, but rather a concentrate with 25% copper, which must then travel by ship to the smelters, which are usually in Asia. The scientist's discovery not only avoids those thousands of kilometers to Asia, its pollution and its cost, but also recovers more than 98% of the copper it processes (a smelter, 70%) and also all the zinc that travels attached to it and that the foundries keep it after separating it. “Just that zinc that we lose (about 20,000 tons) has a value of about 50 million euros annually,” explains Alberto Lavandeira, CEO of Atalaya Mining. "The potential of E-Lix is ​​enormous, between our own and other deposits in the Pyrite Belt there are about 200 million tons of passive material (mixed copper, lead and zinc) that we could exploit."

Lain Tech had a turnover of five million euros in 2023 and its founder believes that now is the time to grow. “We are evaluating what is best, whether to grow alone or partner with a mining company. “We are looking forward to taking our technology all over the planet.”

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