Case 03Jul 1, 20266 min read
Mine water treatment is a mandatory cost item for any mining operation. The AF-Technology + AXIONIT combination turns it into a profitable process: treatment at a negative cost of −0.5 RUB/m³ through extraction of lithium, rare-earth elements and scandium.
Contents
Mine water: a problem and a hidden resource#
Mine water contains suspended solids, salts and metals — and must be treated to discharge standards. For the operator, it is pure cost: reagents, energy, maintenance. Yet the same water carries dissolved valuable metals — lithium, rare-earth elements, scandium. No one in Russia currently monetizes metals from mine water: concentrations are "too low" for classical metallurgy. Not for selective sorption.
AF-Technology + AXIONIT: how it works#
The technology combines two loops. Active filtration (AF) brings water to discharge standards. AXIONIT selective sorbents extract target metals — Li, REE, Sc — from the stream. The result is a full "treatment → extraction → sale" cycle: the operator gets clean water, and the project gets metal concentrates sold on the market.
Negative processing cost: economics#
| Treatment cost | −0.5 RUB/m³ |
|---|---|
| Metals revenue | 85M RUB/year |
| Payback | 18 months |
| NPV | +420M RUB |
We only pay for bringing water to discharge standards — while extracted elements become almost pure margin. Hence the negative treatment cost: every cubic meter of treated water earns money instead of consuming it. For the client this reframes everything: treatment facilities turn from a cost center into an asset.
Regulatory protection and verification#
The technology is listed in the NDT/BAT reference book (ITS 37-2023) — state recognition as a best available technique and a competitive moat: BAT projects receive preferences in environmental regulation and government procurement. The technology has also passed DOE (US Department of Energy) verification — independent confirmation of declared characteristics at the international level. A patent was filed in 2025.
Scaling#
The technology operates at three facilities. The scaling model is modular: units are deployed at existing treatment facilities without stopping production. Each new site is a repeatable unit with an 18-month payback. Priority growth areas are coal and polymetallic basins, where the mine-water problem is most acute.
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