S.E.M Technology, Salt Electro Mining
Recover precious metals, rare earths, and critical minerals
Open-source ion exchange membrane electrolysis for ore, e-waste, tailings, and industrial waste. The same cell leaches, regenerates its acid, and plates the metal.
Three patent applications on file. Released under CERN-OHL-S v2. Florida, United States.
Up to 99%
Recovery at bench scale on the feeds run so far. Recovery on your material is measured in a demonstration run, not assumed.
53 of 60
US critical minerals in one leachate, detected by in-house XRF or predicted by the same chloride chemistry. A coverage figure, not a recovery figure.
$30 to $400
Modeled all-in cost per ton of feed, typically near $50, depending on feedstock and grade.
Closed loop
Acid is regenerated at the membrane every cycle, so there is no repeated chemical makeup and no waste acid stream.
Open source
The membrane recipe and the cell drawings are published. Build one from hardware store parts, or buy the kit.
Membrane patent application US 19/531,984 · Featured on Hackaday and NightHawkInLight · Rigaku NEX DE XRF in house, third party ICP-MS assays · CERN-OHL-S v2
What it does
Four ways to run the same cell
One tank, the same electrodes and membranes, reconfigured by what is fed in and which membrane sits between the chambers. Mining and refining recover metal from solids, treatment cleans a liquid stream, and production makes the acid and base the other three consume.
Continuous mining
Ore or tailings go in as a slurry. Regenerated acid leaches the metals, cations cross the membrane and plate on the cathode, and a filter removes the spent ore solids. Bench runs on raw ore and mine tailings; continuous solid handling is not yet built.
Continuous refining
Concentrate or scrap goes in. Base metals dissolve and plate out; gold, silver and platinum group metals stay on the filter as a solid for downstream refining. Demonstrated on e-waste at bench scale.
Continuous treatment
Acidic or metal-bearing liquid waste. Anions cross the anion membrane to the anode side, cations cross the cation membrane to the cathode side and leave as metal powder, and the middle chamber discharges treated water. One bench run on clear mining waste reduced heavy metals within 5 to 10 minutes at about $5 per ton. One feed, not a range.
Continuous production
Brine in. Four chambers split salt water into hydrochloric acid on the anode side and sodium hydroxide on the cathode side, the reagents the other three modes consume. The outputs describe the cell as designed; they have not been characterized on a metered bench run.
Who it is for
Where should we send you?
Miners and tailings owners
Recover gold, PGMs and rare earths from ore, concentrate and tailings in one closed-loop process.
See mining solutions →E-waste and catalyst recyclers
Pull gold, platinum and palladium from scrap boards and spent catalytic converters.
See recycling solutions →Researchers and makers
Build the open-source membrane and cell yourself from the published files, or start from the kit.
Get the files on GitHub →Supporters and partners
Help fund equipment and testing, or partner with us to deploy the technology at a site.
Support the work →What we offer
Start with an assay, end with a running cell
Every step is priced and available today. Custom processing at your site starts with a meeting.
Step 1
XRF analysis
Send a 10 mL cup or a large object. Rigaku NEX DE, elemental report by email.
$50 single · $200 for six
Order analysisStep 2
Membrane
Cast cation exchange sheet, or the framed slide-in assembly for the V1 cell. Ships wet.
$30 sheet · $100 slide-in
Buy a membraneStep 3
V1 electrolysis cell
Research and demonstration instrument, machined in house. Unassembled kit or assembled and tested.
$900 kit · $2,900 assembled
See the cellStep 4
Demonstration run and custom processing
Ship us your feedstock for a filmed run, or plan a deployment at your site. Intro calls are paid.
Quoted per feed
Book a meetingResults so far
What has been shown, and what has not
We publish the failures with the results. Every figure on this site names its basis: an in-house XRF detection, a third party ICP-MS assay, a single bench run, or a model.
Demonstrated
Metal recovered from raw ore, mine tailings and e-waste at bench scale, with third party assay through ICP-MS.
Membrane cast from hardware store materials, from the published recipe.
Acid regenerated in the cell across repeated cycles.
Not yet proven
Continuous operation on solids beyond the bench.
Production mode outputs on a metered run.
Independent test that the final solids are no more hazardous than agricultural soil.
The demonstration cell as built, July 2026. Working bench, nothing staged.
Tell us what you want to recover
Bring the feedstock, the grade if you know it, and the tonnage. We will tell you whether the cell fits before you pay for a run.
Intro calls are paid, so both sides come prepared.