For the mining industry to move to carbon neutrality and beyond, it must redefine the entire mining process. I-ROX is scaling up a disruptive new technology that aims to reduce energy consumption and associated carbon emissions while increasing the recovery of critical minerals and materials needed for the energy transition.
I-ROX uses fast and short high-voltage pulses to replace centuries-old mechanical milling processes that are highly inefficient. Our disruptive process leverages the science of plasma physics to pass electrical arcs through rock, causing it to burst from the inside using tiny amounts of energy. Through advanced modeling and simulations, we continue to optimize this process to deliver the best results for our future customers.
The ultrafast application of high voltage creates an electric field inside of the rock, preferentially driving electrical arc precursors, called streamers, through the ore. Inside of the rock, differences in permittivity between mineral and gangue create a path that electrons seek. Energy follows this path, causing the ore to burst along mineralogical boundaries. This process unlocks more of the valuable minerals trapped inside, offering the potential to increase mineral recoveries.
Pulsed-power generators store electrical energy, compress it in time and space, and deliver it as a strong, fast and short high-power pulse. In a pulsed-power machine, low-power electric energy from a wall plug is stored in an electrical bank and leaves as a compressed pulse of power. The duration of the pulse is increasingly shortened and with each shortening of the pulse the power increases, resulting in a very short pulse with enormous power. When this electrical pulse is released it creates a plasma inside of the rock, causing it to burst.
Pulsed-power technology initially found applications in military and scientific research over 70 years ago, particularly in the fields of particle physics and nuclear fusion simulation research.
Pulsed power takes just the electrical energy stored in your watch battery and releases it in a short, millionth-of-a-second, high-intensity pulse that can generate up to a gigawatt of power – similar to that of a nuclear reactor.
This capability to safely and repeatedly deliver large amounts of energy in brief moments opened up innovative approaches in various applications, from medical treatments to industrial processes.
The Z Machine is the largest pulsed-power machine in the world and is capable of producing up to 80TW of electrical power – by comparison, all the world’s power generation combined produces around 3.4TW of electrical power.
