Still Bright Aims to Revolutionize Copper Production with Cleaner, Water-Based Technology
Published on November 3, 2025 at 11:00 AM
With global copper demand projected to surge by 40% by 2040, Still Bright is tackling the environmental and supply chain challenges associated with traditional copper production. The company's founders believe their innovative, water-based process can provide a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to smelting, a process known for its heavy pollution.
Traditional copper smelting involves burning concentrated copper ore at high temperatures, releasing harmful sulfur-containing emissions. This has led to a geographic concentration of smelting operations, particularly in Asia, where environmental regulations may be less stringent. Randy Allen, Still Bright’s cofounder and CEO, emphasizes the company's focus on addressing the looming copper supply crisis.
Still Bright's process, inspired by vanadium flow batteries, uses a chemical reaction to purify copper concentrates. Vanadium reacts with copper compounds, leaving impurities behind. This process, which takes 30 to 90 minutes, yields a solid containing roughly 70% copper. This solid can then be processed using existing methods like solvent extraction and electrowinning to achieve over 99% purity.
Unlike smelting, which requires temperatures exceeding 1,200 °C (2,000 °F), Still Bright’s process operates at ambient temperatures. While the process produces hydrogen sulfide gas as a byproduct, the company plans to capture and convert it into useful side products. Still Bright is currently testing its process in a New Jersey lab and designing a pilot facility in Colorado with a two-ton annual capacity. A demonstration-scale reactor with a 500-ton annual capacity is planned for 2027 or 2028. The company recently secured $18.7 million in seed funding to support its scale-up efforts.
Simon Jowitt, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, emphasizes the importance of industrial-scale testing to demonstrate the technology's viability and encourage adoption within the mining industry.