Alta Resource Technologies

Rare earth elements such as neodymium and dysprosium are critical for products like electronics, electric motors, wind turbines, and defense tech­nolo­gies. Yet most of these minerals are refined in China, threatening other nations’ economic resource security. What’s needed is a more efficient way to extract rare earth elements from the millions of tons of e‑waste the world generates every year. Alta has designed custom proteins that can snatch rare earth elements out of a liquid solution, even when they’re at low concen­tra­tions in complex mixtures. By cost-effectively separating these elements from low-grade sources that can’t be processed conven­tion­ally, Alta aims to help liberate the U.S. from resource dependence on China.