CEMI / Challenge and evidence
Bring operators, qualified tailings specialists and researchers together to compare recovery routes, residual risks and whole-system economics.
Focus area / Circular mining and tailings
Recover more value. Leave less liability.
Evaluate recovery from tailings, recycling and reuse as complete technical, environmental and commercial systems.
Discuss this priority
Why this focus
The opportunity behind the headline.
Material called waste may contain recoverable value, but recovery is not automatically safe, profitable or environmentally beneficial. Residual liabilities, product markets and ownership must be understood.
Government of Canada context
Canada promotes keeping materials in the economy through circular approaches, and its Critical Minerals Strategy extends from exploration to recycling.
Sources reviewed . Policy alignment is not program eligibility, government endorsement or a funding commitment. Check current terms directly with the responsible agency.
Our proposed response
What CEMI and MICA would bring.
MICA / Route to market
Help recovery and recycling SMEs find feedstock partners, demonstration hosts and prospective customers for recovered products.
Proposed delivery roles only. Confirm MICA governance, active scope and available capacity for each engagement.
Where to start
Practical opportunities to explore.
Tailings reprocessing
Test representative materials, geochemistry, recovery and safe residual management before any scale-up.
Secondary mineral supply
Connect recycling and industrial by-product technologies to product specifications and dependable feedstock.
Reuse with a real market
Validate performance, environmental acceptability and customer demand for proposed reuse products.
- Practical output
- A mass balance, geochemical and residual-risk review, lifecycle comparison and customer-tested product case.
- Area-specific decision gate
- Do not scale unless ownership, permits, residual liability, product acceptance and risk-adjusted economics are clear.
Evidence, not promises
How we would measure progress.
Agree baselines, targets, measurement methods and reporting permissions before work starts. These are proposed measures, not achieved results.
- Saleable recovery (%) and residual material (tonnes), using a mass balance
- Lifecycle GHG and water changes with a defined comparison boundary
- Net margin ($/tonne) including treatment, transport and closure obligations
Responsible delivery
Boundaries that matter.
Reprocessing is not a tailings safety certification. Require qualified engineering oversight and applicable authorizations; do not claim that recovering minerals eliminates long-term liability.
For the first conversation, bring the problem or community-defined priority, your role, available evidence and the decision you need to make. Do not send confidential technical data, sensitive community information or Indigenous knowledge through the public inquiry form.
Discuss circular mining and tailingsConnected services
Use the pathway that fits the need.
Innovation scouting
A global search for current and emerging pre-commercial solutions to the challenges that matter to mining.
See the service processSolution matching
Connecting validated industry challenges with emerging technologies and the people who can deliver them.
See the service processCommercialization support
Identifying technical and commercial gaps, then building the partnerships and plans to bridge them.
See the service processConnected priorities
No challenge stands alone.
Critical minerals
Build the technical evidence, commercial partnerships and adoption pathways that help strengthen responsible Canadian mineral supply chains.
Explore this priorityIndigenous partnerships and First Nations
Create space for First Nations, Inuit and Métis rights-holders and Indigenous businesses to shape innovation, participation and benefits on their own terms.
Explore this priorityClean energy and electrification
Turn mine electrification, energy efficiency and remote-power ideas into integrated, commercially credible deployment plans.
Explore this priorityWater and nature
Help operators and participating communities evaluate water treatment, reuse and environmental monitoring with evidence suited to local conditions.
Explore this priorityDigital mining and responsible AI
Move from isolated digital pilots to secure, interoperable tools that operators can trust and maintain.
Explore this priorityWorkforce and mine safety
Treat skills, worker participation and safe operating practice as part of commercialization, not a task left until deployment.
Explore this priorityPriority-led innovation