Green Success Stories puts Ross Orr, President and CEO of BacTech, in the Green Spotlight. BacTech harnesses naturally occurring and harmless bacteria to extract valuable metals such as gold, silver, copper, cobalt—and simultaneously neutralize dangerous byproducts like arsenic—turning them into EPA-approved, stable landfill materials. In addition to the effectiveness of their BACOX bioleaching technology, Ross points to the huge sustainability (and revenue) gains of their Zero-Waste process for remediation of legacy mining sites. Ross wants the world to remember – “our bugs eat rocks.”
Tell us a bit about your sustainability journey.
Founded with a clear mission: BacTech aims to mobilize social and environmental sustainability across the mining and resource sectors by introducing eco-friendly bioleaching and remediation solutions that benefit both land and communities.
BacTech – Our Bugs Eat Rocks
Core methodology: The company harnesses naturally occurring and harmless bacteria to extract valuable metals such as gold, silver, copper, cobalt—and simultaneously neutralize dangerous byproducts like arsenic—turning them into EPA-approved, stable landfill materials.
Tell us a bit about the product or solution you offer.
BacTech has 2 technologies.
- Technology 1: Bioleaching (BACOX Bioleaching)
This is BacTech’s original, commercially-proven environmental technology. It uses naturally occurring bacteria to oxidize sulphide minerals in impacted ore, concentrates, and tailings. This transformation liberates precious and base metals (like gold, silver, cobalt, copper) while also neutralizing harmful materials such as arsenic.
The bacteria, in controlled reactors, accelerate what would naturally take decades into just a few days—making the environment safe and generating recoverable metals in the process
The process also converts toxic arsenic into ferric arsenate, a stable and EPA-approved form for safe disposal—eliminating acid mine drainage (AMD) at its source..
- Technology 2: Zero-Waste Initiative (Patent-Pending Process)
In April 2025, BacTech filed a patent for its Zero-Waste Initiative, representing an evolution of its core bioleaching tech.
This process integrates bioleaching with downstream separation steps to transform traditional mine waste—especially iron sulfides like pyrrhotite—into multiple high-value commodities, including:
– High-purity magnetite iron suitable for green steel and pigment industries
– Ammonium sulphate fertilizer, bypassing the need for petroleum-derived sulphur
– Strategic base metals like nickel, copper, cobalt, and rare earths
– Silicate residue for use in construction materials or as backfill
It’s designed to be a market-ready, de-risked solution, combining established equipment and processing methods with BacTech’s bioleaching expertise.
The Zero-Waste process aligns with global sustainability goals, enabling the remediation of legacy mining sites (e.g., millions of tonnes of tailings in the Sudbury Basin) while generating diverse revenue streams
Share a green success story with us – how have you helped customers or other businesses in the fight against climate change?
BacTech has developed a project in Ecuador that will see the construction of a 50 tpd bioleach plant in Tenguel. The area contains roughly 100 mines with most generating what is called arsenopyrite (arsenic+gold+sulphides). The only buyers of this nasty material are the Chinese who no doubt take it back to China to be burned illegally. BacTech’s project, which is completely permitted, will increase the pay to the local miners and provide solid, good paying jobs to the locals. The government gave BacTech a 12 year tax holiday on the condition that they complete a second phase of the project to ultimately produce ~125,000 oz of gold and over 200,000 oz of silver.
What would you like readers to take away from this article?
Our Bugs Eat Rocks
How should readers get in touch with you and/or your organization?
Phone-416-346-5529
Kudos
Many thanks to Ross Orr and to BacTech Environmental Corporation. Green Success Stories is happy to support and highlight your efforts! We invite you the reader to do the same.
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