Natural Resources
Comment
22 November 2022
And another one…
Almost exactly a year ago we were writing about Chrysos Corporation Ltd (ASX:C79)* and its PhotonAssay technology winning the very prestigious CSIRO Chair’s Medal for Science and Engineering excellence.
Back in 2016, as co-founders of Chrysos Corporation alongside CSIRO, we strongly believed PhotonAssay was a game-changer, but it was gratifying to get the endorsement of one of the world’s leading scientific research organisations.
Twelve months on and an ASX listing later, Chrysos have done it again. You will have to forgive us basking in the reflected glory for a moment.
The Australian Government announced today that members of Chrysos’s senior management team, Dr James Tickner (CTO) and Mr Dirk Treasure (CEO) alongside Dr Nick Cutmore (CSIRO Research Director and Chrysos Advisory Board Chair till May 2022), have received the Prize for Innovation in the 2022 Australian Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science.
As many of you, and all of Chrysos’ current customers already know, PhotonAssay has revolutionised the assay industry, overturning centuries old unsafe and less accurate chemical methods. The system provides an environmentally friendly, chemical-free, more sustainable replacement for traditional fire assay methods, significantly reducing CO2 emissions and hazardous waste.
By delivering fully automated, faster, safer and more accurate analysis of gold, silver and complementary elements by non-destructive measurement of larger and more representative samples in as little as two minutes, PhotonAssay enables rapid turnaround of critical operational information that drives optimization throughout the mining value chain.
But you don’t have to take our word for it…
Of the award, Stuart Thomson, CEO of MSA labs, one of Chrysos’s largest customers said;
“Great science alone is of no use if it doesn't result in a product that works in the real world and is cost-effective. Chrysos' commercial success is based solidly on their ability to package up complex science and engineering into a robust and reliable form for everyday use.”
Jonathan Law, Executive Director of Growth at CSIRO said;
“More than 50 high-value jobs have been created, financial returns to CSIRO exceed A$150m and significant safety benefits have been delivered through the displacement of hazardous and polluting traditional assay methods.”
Apart from underscoring what a fantastic job the Chrysos team have done, those comments also underline the benefits to all stakeholders of early-stage investment into disruptive and scaleable new technologies.
As many will know RFC Ambrian has been working with the CSIRO over the past five years to assist with the commercialisation of various technologies with direct application to the sustainability and improved efficiency of the mining industry. Chrysos Corporation* and its PhotonAssay technology was the result of the first partnership between CSIRO and RFC Ambrian.
The second was NextOre* and its magnetic resonance technology which is having a significant impact on the holy grail of mining, bulk ore sorting. NextOre technology has been commercially deployed in three continents, including in June this year at what is the world’s highest capacity ore sorting operation (2800 tph) at First Quantum’s Kansanshi mine.
RFC Ambrian now has a pipeline of transformative technology companies, based on world class science, that is scaleable, disruptive and applicable to the mining industry and beyond. Using our experience and know-how gained from co-founding and working with Chrysos and NextOre, we are pushing these new companies rapidly toward commercialisation.
We will be writing on these new companies in due course but if you are interested in finding out about these future game-changers please do contact us.
*RFC Ambrian and its members hold a substantial interest in these companies.
Charlie Cryer
Head of RFC Ambrian London
+44 (0)20 3440 6834
charlie.cryer@rfcambrian.com
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