Chela Tech Enables Faster, Cheaper Recovery of Precious Metals Using Patented Nanotechnology

Chela Tech, Inc. announces a patented technical breakthrough based upon the development of durable, nano “spiderwebs” linked to a sand substrate, with metal binding sites on the nano “spiderwebs”, resulting in proprietary “nano sand” with binding sites that host ligands. The field tested product is a metals specific recovery column.

According to Dr. Richard Hammen, CTO: “Our technology in the form of metal displacement chromatography (MDC) columns has been successfully field tested and currently can capture Ag; Al; As; Au; CrO4=; Cu; Ga; Hg; Mn; Ni; Pb; Pt; UO2=; and Zn to non-detectible levels for discard solutions, or to desired economic cut-off levels. Unlike competing metal recovery solutions whose costs rise rapidly as metals concentrations decrease, MDC costs per unit metal recovered are essentially the same at any dilution factor. Nano-sand enables very rapid flow rates & very selective metal capture, delivering more effective & efficient metals recovery from solutions & little to no environmental pollution.”

Bo Varga, VP Marketing explains: “The global mining industry is our target market, with the initial focus on gold, copper, and gallium recovery. Metals prices are in a long term up cycle, driven by high level and sustained economic growth, especially in China, creating new opportunities for solutions providers. Revenue to date has been from NRE. We project first revenue from gold recovery in 2006 & first revenue from copper & gallium recovery in 2007, with rapid expansion in revenue thereafter as new mining projects come on line.”

Chela Tech plans to provide skid-mounted, plug-and-play metal recovery solutions for the mining industry & will work with technology licensees for semiconductor, flat panel display, environmental remediation, and other markets and applications. The technology can also be applied to high throughput protein separations.

Chela Tech technology development was funded over the past 20 years with $3 million invested in IP and product development, about ½ from founders and ½ from NIH, NSF, EPA, & DOE grants, with full rights retained by Chela Tech. Two fundamental US patents are issued and others are pending, in process.

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