In conjunction with the World of Coal Ash Conference, SonoAsh Engineered Materials Ltd. of Maryland (SonoAsh) is pleased to announce, in partnership with TechSource Inc. of New Mexico (TechSource), an innovative partnership initiative to recover critical metals and minerals from carbon ore and waste coal ash. 

Founded in 1997, TechSource is comprised of over 500 senior-level engineers, scientists, and government relations leaders from national and university laboratories, principal departmental technology programs and the nuclear energy industry. TechSource is recognized as a qualified, experienced technology development consultancy focused to solve problems of great regional and national importance, including Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and critical mineral (CORE-CM) recovery applications. 

SonoAsh is a process engineering company leveraging six (6) granted patents, creating a low carbon, engineered, green cement and, in parallel, a concentrated matrix of critical metals and minerals for recovery. When the SonoAsh metals rich fraction is processed with TechSource's patented Ion Imprinted Polymers (IIP) for enhanced ion exchange separation, a novel and scalable REE recovery pathway is enabled.

The U.S. government, through its Departments of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), is seeking the economic and commercial scale recovery of REEs from domestic sources of coal and coal by-products. Specifically, there are tremendous opportunities developing alternative separation technology and purification methods for individual elements and recovery technologies for mixed REEs. The TechSource-SonoAsh partnership will specifically focus on commercializing these strategic national initiatives through a variety of opportunities to be jointly developed. 

"This partnership opportunity represents the type of collaboration necessary to create new pathways for strategic metals recovery from domestic sources.  Powder River Basin coal and the millions of tons of waste coal ash in storage in the Four Corners Region (New Mexico and Arizona) combined with SonoAsh's current DOE program participation in New Mexico, represents an excellent opportunity for a SonoAsh and TechSource partnership that will create value for local communities," said Claudio Arato, Chief Technology Officer of SonoAsh.  

"TechSource is excited about the collaboration and the unique starting point the SonoAsh process provides for our IIP technology. As a New Mexico-based company, we are dedicated to further engagement and partnership with the tribal nations and surrounding rural and legacy communities. The resources in the ground represent an untapped resource and a new high-tech economic engine," said Tom Ward, Co-Founder of TechSource. 

As the world drives to net zero 2050 mandates, more collaboration between coal power utilities and their waste, the cement and mining industries, first nations and technology companies like SonoAsh and TechSource is required. SonoAsh and TechSource welcome all collaboration opportunities to build a critical metals recovery technology network. 

For further media information contact: 

Ian MacKenzie, Director of Communications    

ian@sonoash.com       778-233-3821