Brazilian miner Vale has announced an investment in the US-based carbon capture technology developer and startup Mantel through its Vale Ventures department. The aim is to support the development of the startup, the technology of which has the potential to contribute to the decarbonization of heavy industry, including the mining and steel sectors. This is the third investment announced by Vale, which in 2022 committed capital of $100 million to be invested in the development of disruptive solutions for the mining and metals chain.
Mantel will use the funding raised to implement a demonstration plant with the capacity to capture 1,800 mt of carbon emissions per year, paving the way for full-scale commercial deployment of high-temperature carbon capture systems. The company’s technology has already demonstrated carbon capture at lab scale of half a metric ton per day.
Mantel leverages molten borates, the only high-temperature liquid-phase material capable of carbon capture, to capture carbon dioxide at the source of emission, reducing capture costs by more than half compared to conventional amine-based carbon capture technologies.
“Mantel's carbon capture technology, when it becomes available, could make zero-emission iron and steel production feasible, even with the use of natural gas as an energy source in the direct reduction route,” Vale has stated.