A Colorado-based critical minerals extraction start-up has been a beneficiary of the recent government push for critical minerals.
On Monday, Alta Resource Technologies announced it had expanded its Series Seed to USD$10 million with the close of an extra USD$4.4 million investment.
DCVC and Voyager Ventures co-led the investment, with Orion Industrial Ventures and In-Q-Tel (IQT) also participating. Additionally, IQT, the venture capital arm for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), acts as a non-profit strategic investor.
Alta will use the new capital to speed up the development and commercialization of its mineral separation platform. The platform uses engineered proteins to selectively bind and separate critical minerals. These include rare earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium.
Alta also designed the system to extract these minerals from low-grade ores and complex waste streams.
The company said its approach will dramatically reduce the environmental impact of mineral extraction. It also aims to strengthen domestic supply chains. These materials are essential for advanced electronics, clean energy technologies, and modern defense systems.
China dominates critical mineral supply chains, raising concerns about economic and national security. In response, the White House issued an executive order in March. The order aims to boost domestic mineral production and cut U.S. reliance on foreign supply chains.
“Securing resilient, low-impact sources of critical minerals is no longer optional for America and its allies—it’s a strategic imperative,” said Nathan Ratledge, Alta’s co-founder and CEO.
Further, Alta said its technology directly addresses this challenge. It offers a scalable, low impact way to extract high-purity critical minerals. The system works with unconventional and previously uneconomic sources, creating new opportunities for domestic production.
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Alta Resource plans to apply tech to more metal targets
Alta built its platform on protein engineering advancements developed with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Penn State researchers.
By customizing proteins to bind specific elements—even in low concentrations—Alta achieves greater precision than conventional methods. This precision marks a step change in efficiency, sustainability, and economics for processing rare earths and other critical materials.
With the new funding, Alta will grow its technical team and advance its commercial pilot projects. The company also plans to apply its technology to more metal targets and feedstocks. These also include mine tailings, waste streams, and end of life products.
“Alta’s protein based platform demonstrates the promise of engineering biology to address significant national security challenges,” said Jessica Dymond, VP technology at IQT.
The new funding brings Alta’s total Series Seed investment to $10 million and builds on initial funding announced in January. In addition to securing private capital, Alta has received grant support from federal partners and the State of Colorado.
Alta Resource Technologies further specializes in extracting critical minerals, particularly rare earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium. Furthermore, these elements are essential for manufacturing electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, advanced electronics, and defense systems.
Several companies are advancing U.S. critical mineral supply. NevGold Corp (CVE: NAU) (OTCMKTS: NAUFF) (FRA: 5E50) is exploring antimony at its Limousine Butte project in Nevada. Meanwhile, MP Materials Corp (NYSE: MP) operates the Mountain Pass mine in California, producing rare earths like neodymium and praseodymium—vital for magnets in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and military technologies.
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NevGold Corp is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage
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