Continuous Mining Unit Demonstration Run
See what our system pulls out of your material
You do not need to build and operate your own unit to find out whether SEM TECH works on your material. Ship us a sample. We run it through our Continuous Mining Unit (CMU), plate out a metal concentrate, and show you the results with photos, video, in-house analysis, and the physical samples returned to you.
Building and running your own unit just to test your material is a big commitment, often $30,000 or more. This is the fast, low-cost way to see the SEM TECH process work on your specific ore, tailings, electronic scrap, or industrial residue first, so you only scale up if the results justify it. It is a demonstration of the process, not an assay of your ore.
Book your intro call | Ask a question
Who runs this
Rowow LLC is a small Florida lab run by Robert Karas, the founder and inventor of SEM TECH. The technology is open-sourced under CERN-OHL-S v2, with a public repository and a published method. The unit shown here is the one your sample runs through.
The unit, and real results
What you get
- Your feedstock run through the CMU, with photographs and video of the process.
- In-house XRF analysis (Rigaku NEX DE) of four items: the metal concentrate, the cathode-side liquid, the anode-side liquid, and the leached feedstock.
- A 30 minute results call and a written conclusion document.
- Your materials back: the concentrate and the two liquid samples, plus a 100 gram washed sample of the leached residue on request (you pay shipping). The bulk residue can be returned after a neutralization step that starts at $1,000, with the exact amount quoted once we have processed it (unusual or regulated residue costs more), where lawfully shippable, or by local pickup as-is.
What it costs
| Project Introduction Call (required first) | Rate shown when you book, 30 minutes to review terms and your sample before you order; separate from the run fee |
| Demonstration Run (processing plus in-house XRF and everything above) | $5,000 flat, 100% upfront by wire or ACH to book |
| Same-week rush | +$5,000, subject to availability |
| Shipping both ways | Customer pays |
| Independent third-party ICP-MS | Customer arranges and pays the lab directly |
| Leached residue | 100 g washed sample included (you pay shipping); bulk residue from $1,000 (quoted after we process it; unusual or regulated residue costs more) to neutralize and ship where lawful, or local pickup as-is |
Multi-sample and academic discounts may be available. Ask us.
The $5,000 is a flat demonstration fee. It reflects the real cost of dedicating the lab to your material: a fresh, dedicated acid charge, several days of hands-on operation, analysis, and waste handling. It is not a per-ton processing rate.
How it works
- Start with a paid intro call. A 30 minute Project Introduction Call (rate shown when you book) reviews the terms and your sample. If you proceed, you sign the service agreement and the intake form, and reserve a slot (a mutual NDA is available on request).
Book a Project Introduction Call - Ship your sample. 30 to 50 lb, crushed and powdered.
- We run it. We process at least half of the sample until a sufficient concentrate is produced, then analyze the products.
- You get results. Report, samples, photos, and video in about two weeks of lab time once your sample arrives.
Straight about the limits
We would rather you know exactly what this is before you ship anything.
- This is a proof of concept on a bench-scale system, not a finished commercial assay or a complete mass balance. It is a technology demonstration that shows what the process recovers, not a service that certifies your ore grade.
- The system runs in batches today, without continuous feed and agitation. Not all of the sample dissolves, and not all metals plate out cleanly. Results are preliminary and indicative.
- We analyze in house by XRF, which cannot detect lithium, beryllium, boron, or carbon. If you are chasing lithium specifically, XRF alone will not show it. It has other limitations too (matrix effects, peak overlaps, sample inhomogeneity, surface-only measurement, and semi-quantitative results), so a full, thorough picture needs the independent ICP-MS work we recommend and will point you to.
- The system as it stands recovers a wide range of metals in one chlorine-based leach. Some elements need different chemistry, and a few critical minerals (barite, fluorspar, metallurgical coal, graphite) are not recoverable as dissolved species. We will tell you honestly where your material likely falls before you ship.
Our setup can be expanded and optimized for a specific feedstock. The point of this service is a general demonstration, not an optimized result.
What we accept
- 30 to 50 lb, crushed and powdered to roughly below 10 to 50 microns, dry.
- Domestic samples preferred. International samples are limited and need a regulatory check first, but we are open to the conversation; ask us.
- If your sample arrives out of spec (too coarse, wet, or overweight), we will give you options: re-prep for a quoted fee, hold, return at your cost, or process it as-is if you accept poorer, less complete results.
What we cannot accept. For safety and legal reasons we do not process radioactive or NORM (naturally radioactive) material, including most monazite and many rare-earth ores unless tested and cleared, high-mercury material, explosives, biohazards, cyanide-bearing or cyanide-treated material, or unknown hazardous waste. You guarantee in writing that your sample is free of these.
A note on openness
This is a paid demonstration service run on top of our openly published technology. The membrane and the core method stay open under CERN-OHL-S v2. What you pay for is hands-on access to our lab, our operating time, and our analysis on your specific material, not exclusive rights to anything.
Questions people ask
Can you guarantee how much you will recover? No. This is an experimental demonstration provided as-is. We show you what the system does with your material; we do not promise a yield.
Is this an assay? No. This is a demonstration of the SEM TECH process on your material, not a certified assay of your ore. We show you what the process recovers, with in-house XRF indications and the physical products in hand. For certified grade numbers, use a commercial assay lab or the independent ICP-MS we recommend.
Why not just build my own to test it? Building and operating your own unit to test your material typically runs $30,000 or more. This lets you see the process work on your material first, for a fraction of that, so you only invest in your own system if the results justify it.
What if you decide not to run my sample? We can decline or cancel for any reason, at any time before completion. If we do, you get a full refund of the run fee and your unprocessed sample back at our cost. We would rather turn down a job than run one we are not confident in.
What if the run fails? A failed run means something outside our control stops your material from being properly extracted or processed, and that gets a 50% refund. Recovering little metal is not a failed run; it is a real result, and the service makes no yield guarantee.
Do you keep my sample or results? No. Your data on your sample is yours. Your run is confidential unless you give us written permission to show an anonymized demonstration video.
How fast? About two weeks of lab time once your sample arrives and a slot is open, longer if we are busy. Add shipping each way, and any independent ICP-MS you commission runs on its own lab timeline. Same-week rush is available for an extra $5,000.
Ready to see it run on your material?
Book your Project Introduction Call to get started, or email us with questions. We will send the agreements and shipping instructions.