NJ Startup Cuts Copper Costs with Innovative Electric Solution
Still shining’s Revolutionary copper Extraction Promises Cleaner, Cheaper Production
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San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
Still Bright is poised to disrupt the copper mining industry with a groundbreaking technology that extracts the vital metal without the environmental toll of traditional methods.The company, which recently secured funding from SOSV, has developed a process inspired by vanadium flow batteries, offering a cleaner, more efficient, and possibly far cheaper way to produce copper.
A Greener Path to Copper
The demand for copper, a critical component in everything from electric vehicles to renewable energy infrastructure, is soaring. Though, conventional copper extraction frequently enough involves pyrometallurgical processes that release meaningful amounts of harmful pollution into the atmosphere. Still Bright’s innovative approach sidesteps this environmental hazard by utilizing a vanadium-based solution to leach copper from ore.
“Where most companies essentially burn away unwanted parts of the ore – releasing much of it into the atmosphere – Still Bright soaks copper-containing ores in a vanadium-based solution, which draws the metal out of the ore,” explains Allen, a representative from Still Bright. “When the vanadium solution is spent, the company’s system uses electricity to regenerate it.”
This elegant solution not onyl minimizes pollution but also draws inspiration from a sophisticated energy storage system. The core technology is rooted in the principles of vanadium flow batteries, which store energy in vanadium-based solutions contained in large tanks. These solutions are charged and discharged by flowing them past a membrane, a concept that has been ingeniously adapted for metal extraction.
Serendipity and Innovation
The genesis of Still Bright’s technology is a engaging tale of scientific serendipity. “All of this is kind of happenstance,” Allen shared.”The technical inventor, the CTO of the company Jon [Vardner], he was working on two different projects: one on vanadium flow batteries and another on using vanadium to extract copper. It’s connecting the dots. One person happened to be doing both.” This convergence of research has led to a truly unique and impactful innovation.
Scalability and Economic Advantage
A key advantage of Still Bright’s system is its modular design, allowing for deployment at mines of varying scales. The vanadium-based process operates with remarkable speed, meaning the company’s equipment is considerably smaller than conventional refiners for equivalent copper production volumes. “The processing is on the order of minutes, up to an hour. That allows us to keep everything really small,” Allen noted.
This compact footprint translates directly into substantial cost savings. Allen estimates that Still Bright’s equipment is 70% to 90% cheaper than traditional pyrometallurgical gear. While the current operational costs are comparable to standard refineries, Allen is confident that this will change. “there’s a lot of opportunity for us to be cheaper,” he stated, highlighting the potential for significant economic benefits as the technology matures.
The Road to Commercialization
Still Bright is charting an ambitious course toward commercial-scale production. The company plans to construct a demonstration unit in 2027 or 2028,capable of producing 500 tons of copper annually. This represents a substantial leap from their current pilot-scale unit, which yields two tons per year. the ultimate goal is a commercial-scale system designed to produce an remarkable 10,000 tons per year.
The company is also keenly aware of market dynamics, particularly potential tariffs on copper imports.Still Bright aims to refine copper in sufficient quantities to capitalize on any such measures, using the resulting revenues to accelerate the progress and deployment of its commercial-scale units.
“We see ourselves as having a path to be among the cheapest copper producers,” Allen concluded, underscoring the company’s vision for a more enduring and economically viable future for copper extraction.