Tomás Villalón Jr. grew up in San Antonio, Texas, but remembers the smog hanging over Monterrey, Mexico, the city his family came from. A steel and metal fabrication hub, Monterrey left an impression on him. "I'm motivated because I've seen what metal-making does," says Villalón, who studied materials science and engineering at MIT. That experience pushed him toward sustainable metallurgy, a focus he developed as a student while working at Boston Metal, an MIT spinoff working on decarbonizing steelmaking.
In 2019, Villalón cofounded Phoenix Tailings, where he serves as chief technology officer. The company has developed an electrochemical technique for extracting rare earth metals from mining waste. Villalón notes that the mining ecosystem produces several billion tons of waste annually. "We have to get rid of this pollution," he says. Phoenix Tailings asserts that its process generates no toxins and is carbon-free when fueled by renewable energy.
The approach targets a long-standing environmental problem: rare earth extraction is typically dirty and energy-intensive. By focusing on mining waste rather than fresh ore, Phoenix Tailings aims to turn an environmental liability into a source of valuable materials. The company's claims are significant, though the source does not provide independent verification of the process's efficiency or environmental impact.