Introducing Nuton: a better way to produce copper

Nuton, a Rio Tinto venture, is a bioleaching technology that harnesses the power of nature – through naturally occurring microorganisms – to extract copper.

What started as a small lab in Bundoora, Australia, has grown into an initiative that is transforming the way copper is made – making it faster and cleaner. 

Nuton’s technology has the potential to produce copper from resources that were previously too technically challenging or expensive to process in any other way.

This unique technology achieves recovery rates of up to 85% from primary sulphide ore, in which 70-80% of the world’s copper resources are contained – substantially higher than recoveries achieved by alternative leaching technologies. 

Nuton eliminates the need for smelting and refining. In a single integrated process, we can produce a high-quality copper cathode on site, without the need for a conventional concentrator, smelter or tailings.

At each Nuton deployment, we aim to produce the lowest footprint primary copper, while working with our partners to create a positive impact in water, energy, land, materials and society.

The International Energy Agency predicts that copper will remain the most widely used metal in renewable energy technologies. They predict that to achieve net zero, total annual demand for copper will grow to 34.7 million tons by 2030, compared to 25 million tons in 2022. 

How Nuton works

At Nuton’s core is a biological leach process that transforms copper-bearing rock or mine waste into 99.99% pure copper cathode.

Our leaching process starts by creating a heap – a very large pile of crushed rock. Depending on the site, that could be newly mined ore or previously mined rock that has been discarded as waste.

Added to the heap is a carefully cultivated culture of micro-organisms – the natural catalyst of our technology. Once added, they multiply, harnessing energy from the minerals in the rock to grow and concentrate the copper.

To support the microorganisms, we aerate the heap and add acidified water. By creating favourable conditions for microorganism activity, we accelerate the copper leached from chalcopyrite in the heap material, enabling unparalleled copper recovery.