securing
the
future

of the global
metal supply chain
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How it works?
about
Still Bright has discovered transformative reaction chemistry to enable the rapid, clean, and complete recovery of copper. The electrochemical technology is powered by renewables for economic and environmental sustainability. Additionally, the process enables more domestic production of copper for reduced risk in the supply chain.

technology

Critical
Need
vision
potential
for impact

Critical Need

Copper is expected to be in high demand in the coming decades due to the emergence of wind and solar technologies, which require about five times as much copper as fossil energy sources. Copper, however, is expected to be in short supply in the coming decades due to the high costs associated with the mining, concentrating, and processing of copper ore. New technologies are greatly needed to sustainably provide cheap copper refined domestically rather than produced by smelting overseas.

vision

Still Bright is developing a patented hydrometallurgical process that enables the fastest conversion of concentrated copper ore to refined copper observed to date at room temperature and pressure. The rapid reaction rates and ambient conditions correlate to low capital costs and operating costs, respectively. The process leverages electrochemical technologies prevalent in other industries to carry out the reaction chemistry. Powering this conversion with renewable energy significantly reduces the carbon footprint of copper production.

Potential for Impact

The process at full scale will produce 1,000 tonnes of copper per day to extend the material’s availability for several decades. In addition, this process will enable more domestic production of copper, reduce risks in the supply chain, and decrease the amount of energy used to transport concentrated copper ore overseas. Lastly, this process will expand processing to currently nonviable feedstocks, improve the recovery of critical materials, and prevent the release of environmentally deleterious byproducts

team

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Jon
Vardner
CEO, co-Founder
Jon completed his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Columbia University where he was an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. He continued his postdoctoral studies at Columbia to develop and co-invent Still Bright’s copper production process.
Kelly
Brayton
Electrochemical Engineer
Kelly holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University and a master’s degree, also in chemical engineering, from Columbia University.  Her research at Columbia centered on improving the performance of electrocatalyst overlayers to optimize hydrogen gas production.
Olivier
Izmery
Electrochemical Engineer
Olivier holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree, also in chemical engineering, from Columbia University. At Columbia, his research focused on techno-economic analysis and equipment use for chalcopyrite conversion.
Carter
Schmitt
Chief of Staff
Carter brings ecosystem connections, industry knowledge, and start-up strategy expertise. After helping climate tech startups commercialize their solutions at Columbia Technology Ventures and the NYSERDA Entrepreneur-In-Residence Program, she transitioned to Still Bright to make a more direct impact and support the company in getting our critical technology to the market.
Max
Dickman
Electrochemical Engineer
Max holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Columbia University. For the past year, Max has been working in Still Bright co-founder Dr. Alan West's lab, where he characterized and optimized the vanadium regeneration process.
KatharinE 
Greco
Director of Technology
Katharine earned her PhD in chemical engineering at MIT studying redox flow battery systems. Before joining Still Bright, she spent two years as a Fellow at the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-e), identifying and analyzing emerging technology in energy and climate.

advisors

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Ashwath Mehra
Advisor
Mehra is Still Bright's primary industry advisor and brings nearly 30 years of experience in mining and metals, debt and equity capital markets, as well as valuable connections to the mining industry. Mehra founded GT Gold Corp., and has served at the head of multiple companies, including MRI Trading AG (formerly Marc Rich + Co Investment AG) and AstorManagement AG.  Mr. Mehra is also on the board of Fancamp Exploration Ltd. and Collective Mining Ltd.
Prof.
Alan C. West
chief scientist, co-founder
West is an electrochemical engineer, Director of the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center, and author of a successful textbook “Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering: An Introduction"
Prof.
Scott Banta
co-founder
Banta is Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University. His research focuses on protein engineering, metabolic engineering, synthetic biology and on the metal-oxidizing bacteria used in copper bioleaching processes.

get in touch
with us

At Samphire Neuroscience we are always looking for talented individuals that are passionate about what we do. Please contact us at em@daere.co with a cover letter and resume if you think you may be a good fit.
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