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We’ve developed a new technology that can produce copper in a more sustainable way
The world needs more copper. From everyday appliances like toasters and washing machines, to the solar panels and wind turbines that will power a renewable future, copper is an ever more in-demand metal with every passing year.
As a copper producer, we must find better ways to meet this demand. And we need to do it responsibly.
Nuton's ambition is to deliver precisely that.
Nuton, a Rio Tinto venture, is a bioleaching technology that harnesses the power of nature – through naturally occurring microorganisms – to extract copper.
What started as a small lab in Bundoora, Australia, has grown into an initiative that is transforming the way copper is made – making it faster and cleaner.
Nuton’s technology has the potential to produce copper from resources that were previously too technically challenging or expensive to process in any other way.
This unique technology achieves recovery rates of up to 85% from primary sulphide ore, in which 70-80% of the world’s copper resources are contained – substantially higher than recoveries achieved by alternative leaching technologies.
Nuton eliminates the need for smelting and refining. In a single integrated process, we can produce a high-quality copper cathode on site, without the need for a conventional concentrator, smelter or tailings.
At each Nuton deployment, we aim to produce the lowest footprint primary copper, while working with our partners to create a positive impact in water, energy, land, materials and society.
The International Energy Agency predicts that copper will remain the most widely used metal in renewable energy technologies. They predict that to achieve net zero, total annual demand for copper will grow to 34.7 million tons by 2030, compared to 25 million tons in 2022.
At Nuton’s core is a biological leach process that transforms copper-bearing rock or mine waste into 99.99% pure copper cathode.
Our leaching process starts by creating a heap – a very large pile of crushed rock. Depending on the site, that could be newly mined ore or previously mined rock that has been discarded as waste.
Added to the heap is a carefully cultivated culture of micro-organisms – the natural catalyst of our technology. Once added, they multiply, harnessing energy from the minerals in the rock to grow and concentrate the copper.
To support the microorganisms, we aerate the heap and add acidified water. By creating favourable conditions for microorganism activity, we accelerate the copper leached from chalcopyrite in the heap material, enabling unparalleled copper recovery.
In late 2025, Nuton achieved a major milestone: moving from concept to first copper production at its inaugural industrial-scale demonstration in just 18 months. The demonstration site at Johnson Camp Mine in Arizona, a partnership with Gunnison Copper Corp, has shortened the mine to market value chain by producing copper directly at the mine without the need for conventional refining and smelting. The restart of the Johnson Camp Mine makes it the first mine to bring online US copper production in more than a decade. This milestone marks Nuton’s official entry into commercial operations – proving that faster, smarter and cleaner copper production is possible at industrial scale.
Nuton is setting a new benchmark for sustainability. Driven by the Nuton technology, Johnson Camp mine is now the lowest-carbon primary copper producer in the US on the Scope 1 and 2 basis widely used by industry.
Nuton’s modular and collaborative model integrates biology, chemistry, digital tools and commercial expertise to deliver solutions for partners across the world. In early 2026, Nuton announced its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its exclusive launch customer. Under the agreement, AWS will use the first Nuton copper ever produced in components of its US data centres, supplying copper critical to infrastructure and demonstrating how mining can contribute to more sustainable supply chains.
The name ‘Nuton’ draws from Sir Isaac Newton – the famous scientist, mathematician, physicist, and alchemist – an inspiration for the Nuton team to explore the boundaries of what is possible while remaining grounded in data, science and engineering.
‘Nuton’ also references the ‘new tonne’ of copper captured through this new technology, employing a new business model, and designed for a new, more sustainably minded, market.