GoKawiilPhoenix Tailings extracts rare earth metals from mining waste
Tomás Villalón Jr., an MIT-trained materials science engineer, cofounded Phoenix Tailings in 2019 after working at MIT spinoff Boston Metal on decarbonizing steelmaking. The company has developed a process to extract rare earth metals from mining waste rather than through conventional mining.
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Rare earth metals are critical for electronics, electric vehicles and clean energy technologies, but traditional extraction and refining methods are often environmentally damaging and geographically concentrated. A process that recovers these materials from existing mining waste could, if it scales, reduce the need for new mining and offer a cleaner domestic supply source, according to the company's framing of its work.
- Phoenix Tailings was cofounded in 2019 by Tomás Villalón Jr., an MIT materials science alumnus.
- The company extracts rare earth metals from mining waste rather than conventional ore extraction.
- Villalón's interest in sustainable metallurgy was shaped by childhood memories of industrial pollution in Monterrey, Mexico, and later work at Boston Metal.
Source: technologyreview.com — Kathryn M. O Neill, 2026-10-20
Published there as: “A cleaner path to rare earth metals”
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