How it works
Peridotite mineralisation is a natural process. CO2 dissolved in rainwater is reacting with peridotite all the time, but in nature it can take decades to mineralise even a small amount of CO2 . We accelerate this process to mineralise CO2 in less than twelve months.

CO2 dissolved in water at high concentration
- We dissolve CO2 in water to create our injection fluid, which is essentially sparkling water. Carbonated (sparkling) water is acidic. When this acidic injection fluid makes contact with peridotite it dissolves minerals, releasing ions that react with the CO2 to form carbonate minerals – rock – eliminating the CO2 forever.
- The amount of CO2 we dissolve dictates the acidity of the injection fluid. The more acidic the fluid, the faster the rate of mineralisation. We adjust temperature and pressure to dissolve more CO2 in the fluid and thereby create an optimal environment for CO2 dissolution. We are working to optimise this solubility process, meaning we will be able to use less water in the future.
Renewable energy
- Our mission is to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. It’s therefore important that we minimise the total carbon footprint of our own operations. At our sites, renewable energy powers everything from Direct Air Capture to the injection process itself.
- Part of the process of choosing a new mineralisation site is to identify conditions that may be suitable for renewable power. Solar, hydroelectric and wind are all reliable sources of energy, but we also use biofuel to power our operations when these sources are not available (e.g. at night).
H2O recovery
- Recovering water minimises our impact on the local environment, enables us to work in water-scarce areas, and improves our operational efficiency. Testing recovered water is also vital for our monitoring and verification process.
- We recover water by drilling additional boreholes into the ground. These additional boreholes bring water back to the surface where it can be analysed and re-injected. We are investing in research and technological development to increase the amount of injected water we are able to recover from each borehole.
- We do not use harmful chemicals, and the water we use in our injection fluid is not materially altered by our process.
CO2 drawn from DAC or PSC
- We mineralise CO2 drawn directly from the atmosphere (Direct Air Capture) or taken from hard-to-abate industrial processes, such as ammonia or concrete production (Point Source Capture).
CO2 mineralisation
- Once injected, the carbonated injection fluid spreads into the peridotite deep underground. The fluid is denser than water which means it cannot move upwards into any shallow groundwater or affect the local environment. This process is called ‘solubility trapping’.
- The injection fluid is acidic and when this acidic fluid makes contact with peridotite it dissolves minerals and extracts ions that react with the CO2 and create carbonates, or ‘rock’.
- The key reactive mineral is olivine. Olivine is present in peridotite in higher concentration than any other rock, which means peridotite can mineralise more CO2, faster, than comparable rocks.
- We are currently developing technology to enhance the permeability of the peridotite to increase mineralisation reaction rates.
- Once the mineralisation reaction has taken place, the CO2 is locked away underground forever, unable ever to escape.
Monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV)
- Our Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) has two purposes: to ensure our process is safe and to confirm mineralisation has taken place.
- MRV begins before we break ground on any site. We take baseline measurements of the surrounding area, including testing any water and conducting geophysical surveys of the subsurface. This enables us to isolate any underground sources of drinking water (USDW) and ensure we have no lasting impact on the local environment. We can also use these baseline measurements to check for any changes to the local environment through regular soil and groundwater testing.
- We also conduct regular geochemical testing of the water recovered from our observation boreholes. This testing shows us how much CO2 has been removed from injection fluid, how quickly, and where has the CO2 gone. This data enables us to confirm how much CO2 has been mineralised and eliminated forever.
H2O
- We need a reliable source of water to dissolve CO2 and create our injection fluid. As we scale our operations and require larger volumes of water, we are prioritising sites with access to large volumes of seawater. However, we are not limited to coastal sites, and we are able to use other inland water sources that would not be suitable for consumption or agriculture.
- Our priority in every project is to protect the local environment and the communities that rely on it. One of our first priorities when choosing a site is to identify and isolate any shallow sources of groundwater. Our boreholes are drilled far away from these sources, and solubility trapping ensures our injection fluid cannot leak up towards the surface into this groundwater.
Click on the text on the diagram below to find out more


Natural

Safe

Scalable

Cost-effective

Fast
