Mining tech startup Banksia believes it has 'cracked the code’ on copper
Ex-Rio Tinto executive Leigh Staines is developing new technology to unlock copper reserves and meet soaring demand for the metal.
An Australian startup born in a university lab believes it has found a way to extract copper from reserves that giants like BHP and Rio Tinto can’t touch.
Banksia Minerals Processing, led by former Rio Tinto executive Leigh Staines, has developed technology that could unlock vast copper reserves — just as global demand for the metal surges, driven by clean energy ambitions.
“We've created an alternative way of being able to increase the copper supplies across the globe and meet the demand needs of the energy transition,” Staines told Capital Brief.
The stakes are enormous. More than half the world’s remaining copper sits in deposits that are too complex or low-grade for traditional extraction methods. Yet copper remains critical to clean energy technologies.
