Cinderae Nova Information

Cinderae Nova is reinventing critical-mineral separation with AI-engineered peptide ligands: molecules designed computationally to bind one target metal and ignore the rest. Developed on rare earth elements and now extending to platinum-group metals, starting with rhodium, our platform recovers REEs and PGMs from dilute, waste-derived streams that conventional mining and solvent extraction can’t economically access: coal fly ash, chromite tailings and acid mine drainage. These feedstocks are already mined and stockpiled. The missing piece has been separation technology. The ligands are immobilized on modular ceramic membranes that scale out by adding skids, not by building billion-dollar plants. Near-neutral pH, no solvent inventory, no new mine. A provisional patent is filed on the platform. Our U.S.-based team combines industrial biotechnology, commercial bioleaching operations and PGM geology. Why it matters for climate: the rare earths in EV motors and wind turbines, and the platinum-group metals in fuel cells and electrolyzers, are bottlenecked by mining- and solvent-intensive supply chains. Recovering them from waste avoids new mines, acid-leach ponds and solvent refining, and turns coal ash and tailings from long-term liabilities into supply. Our goal: a domestic, non-China, non-Russia source of the metals behind defense, clean energy and electronics.