We are working with a hot sulphur spring water micoralga called “Galdieria”which is between 5-10µm in size which has the ability to adsorb valuable metals such as gold (Au) and palladium (Pd) on its surface.
By harnessing this unique capability we are developing precious metal adsorbents using Galdieria.
Galdieria is also able to capture and store CO₂ through photosynthesis.
We aim to contribute to the circular society through promotion of precious metal recycling, reducing the danger of mercury use in gold mines and CO₂ fixation from industrial exhaust gas.

Issue 1: Improving precious metal recycling

Disguarded electrical items and electronic waste create what is termed ‘urban mines’which often contain recoverable concentrations of precious metals Although recovery of precious metals. Although recovery of precious metals from urban mines through recycling is attractive with current technologies the recycle ratios are not high due to technical difficulties.

We have developed a Galdieria-derived adsorbent that can recover target metals such asgold (Au) and palladium (Pd) even from dilute solutions (typically less than 10 ppm) that are currently discarded.

The recovery of precious metals that are otherwise discarded via recyling creates a net increase and this, in turn, reduces the need for digging for precious metals.
Replacing an ion exchange resin which is a commonly used adsorbent in the metal recycling processes with our Galdieria-derived adsorbent could also contribute to a reduction of CO₂ emmission.

The risks involved in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) have long been a major social issue. ASGM takes place in around 70 countries and accounts for approximately 20% of the world’s gold production, or US$2 billion annually.It is said that about 15 million people worldwide are engaged in ASGM.

The majority of ASGM operators are unregulated and it is estimated that approximately 5 million women and children work in extremely dangerous conditions. ILarge amounts of mercury are used in recovering gold but can cause serous health problems and accounts for more than 40% of the world’s anthropogenic mercury emission.

We have developed a gold extraction process which does not require any toxic substances such as mercury and acquired a patent in Japan (international patents are pending).
Since our technology enables efficient extraction of gold without significant changes to existing practices it will benefit not only environmentally conscious miners but also ASGM where large l investments and monitoring of safety measures are problematic.
We contribute to reducing the use of pollutants with our technology.

Mankindhas been spoiled by the wealth of global resources and a beautiful environment but have created a one-way, non-circulating society that unthinkingly consumes the many blessing of nature.
We hope to slow this unsustainable situation through the power of microalgae and application of science.

Methods to reduce atmospheric CO₂ concnetrations have attract special attention recently.The methods can be divided into two main categories: physicochemical and biological methods. The physicochemical metods are superior in the amount of CO₂ captured, however, there are few uses for the carbon recovered.
Biological methods for CO₂ capture have been used for some time. One such metod is afforestation but here , the fixation rates are low.

Microalgae offer an alternative, they grow faster than woody plants and their uses, post CO₂ capture ,are unlimited. Another benefit is that microalgal cultivation does not compete with agriculure or forestry for land.

Garlieria can be cultivated with light and CO₂ in the normal atmospheric conditions it also thrives in industrial exhaust gases. We are developing the capacity for mass cultivation of Galdieria and when fully deveoped we will have a product , that can be used for the industrial applications described earlier as well food products, animal feed and fertilisers etc.