Mining / Copper
BHP: Searching for substances for copper leaching
- Company
- BHP
- Country
- Australia
- Adoption stage
- Pilot
- Source published
- Date basis
- The date the source was published. It can differ from the date adoption started.
- How the source was checked
- Checked a source excerpt through a search tool
The work problem
Copper leaching is a complex process. BHP explained that finding better ways to recover copper from ore had relied on slow manual trial and error. Molecules that could improve leaching number in the millions, counting both those already known and those not yet discovered. Testing them one by one in a laboratory would take years, or even decades.
Technology and data
BHP used Microsoft Discovery together with Microsoft and the computational chemistry company Prescience Insilico. It is a platform that accelerates scientific research and development with high performance computing and specialised AI agents. The team swept more than half a million molecules that might extract copper more efficiently. It ran tens of thousands of quantum chemistry calculations and simulations to narrow the candidates. The models were matched to the real conditions of ore at BHP copper sites. The narrowed molecules are tested by scientists themselves in an Australian laboratory.
Results
BHP said it narrowed an almost limitless candidate pool down to a small set of options that could one day be used at global copper sites. Candidates are tested against its own orebodies and operating constraints. It explained that this means solving for what will actually work. Beyond speed and efficiency, it aims at lowering toxicity and reducing environmental impact alongside improving recovery and cutting cost. Vice President of Innovation Jessica Farrell said this collaboration can contribute to long-term copper growth targets.
Limits and open questions
It is still at the laboratory testing stage. There is no result in the source showing that copper recovery rose in commercial production. Which molecules were selected was not disclosed either.
Sources
- BHP innovates with Microsoft for copper growthbhp.com, Accessed
Compiled from public sources. These are not results from ATF Works customers.