Mine tailings are usually viewed as the unwanted end of the mining process. They can remain behind for decades, generate acid drainage and create environmental liabilities, yet some still contain gold, silver, copper and other metals that older processing methods may not have recovered. BacTech Environmental is building its strategy around that overlooked opportunity. Its explanation is memorable: “Our Bugs Eat Rocks.” Using naturally occurring bacteria, the company’s BACOX® process breaks down sulphide minerals, releases valuable metals and stabilizes arsenic. The process has already been used at four commercial plants built under licence. In a wide ranging interview with AGORACOM, CEO Ross Orr explained how BacTech intends to combine owned operations, funded evaluations and potential licensing relationships as it pursues opportunities across multiple jurisdictions.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Commercial History: BACOX® has been used at four commercial plants built under licence, providing an established technological foundation for BacTech’s strategy.
Ecuador Catalyst: BacTech’s planned 50 tonne per day Tenguel facility is fully permitted but remains dependent on financing. Orr identified securing the required capital as the principal challenge facing the Ecuador project.
Peru Initiative: BacTech has established BacTech Verde Peru S.A.C. to review the government’s inventory of historic tailings and identify potential opportunities involving gold, silver and copper.
Kazakhstan Evaluation: Di As is funding a three stage program valued at approximately US$350,000 to US$425,000 to evaluate BACOX® on historic sulphide tailings. No plant or production decision has been made.
Zero Tailings™: BacTech is developing a patent pending platform intended to produce additional products such as magnetite, ammonium sulphate fertilizer, silica and other metals. The complete process has not been commercially proven.
STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS
Arsenic is one of mining’s most difficult processing challenges. Concentrates containing elevated arsenic can face substantial penalties and limited buyer interest. That creates BacTech’s specialized opportunity because BACOX® is designed to oxidize the sulphides holding the metals while converting arsenic into a stable form.
Orr compared the sulphides to mortar holding together a brick wall. Once bacteria break down that structure, the metals are released and can be recovered using conventional methods. For historic tailings, much of the crushing and grinding may already have been completed. The material can potentially be reprocessed through flotation to isolate a smaller sulphide concentrate containing the recoverable metals. That concentrate can then enter the BACOX® process before gold and silver are recovered as doré.
BacTech’s planned Ecuador facility represents the owner operated side of the strategy. A 2022 third party feasibility study used a gold price of US$1,600 per ounce and estimated a 57.9% pre tax internal rate of return, US$10.9 million in annual pre tax earnings prior to the employee bonus and listed a two year payback under a 75% debt assumption. The facility has not been constructed and remains dependent on financing.
Peru could eventually support the owner operated model described by Orr. BacTech will review government inventories and identify suitable tailings, but no specific asset, site access or commercial agreement has been secured. Any project would require sampling, test work, technical studies, approvals and acceptable commercial terms.
Orr summarized the positioning this way:
“We can take garbage and turn it into value. That’s the story.”
INVESTOR TAKEAWAY
BacTech is pursuing a global strategy around material most mining companies would prefer to avoid. BACOX® brings commercial operating history, Ecuador offers a fully permitted project awaiting financing, Kazakhstan provides a funded international evaluation, and Peru creates a new initiative to identify potential tailings opportunities.
The next test is execution. Key milestones include securing financing for Ecuador, advancing the Kazakhstan program and moving Peru from inventory review toward specific targets and test work.
If those milestones are achieved, BacTech could begin transforming its bioleaching experience into a combination of owned processing assets and potential licensing relationships. That is the larger story behind BacTech’s bugs eating rocks: using biology to recover value from difficult material while addressing one of mining’s longest standing environmental challenges.
Last modified: September 10, 2026
