Background: An emerging strategy to meet growing demand for mineral resources is to valorise “wastes” generated during traditional mining operations. Due to the labile form of metals in mining-influenced waters (MIW) and the requisite need to remediate these resources, mining of aqueous systems is particularly attractive. For this approach to be viable, however, there is a need for technologies capable of selective extraction of high value constituents to generate value added products and new revenue streams from MIW wastes. Green glycolipid surfactants, produced by GlycoSurf, exhibit high capture efficiency and selectivity for rare earth elements (REE) and other polyvalent metal ions. Traditionally, glycolipids are biosynthesized in small quantities by bacteria, but this process can be expensive, low-yielding, and have inconsistent production quality. To address these shortcomings, GlycoSurf licensed a bench-scale “bioinspired” green synthetic process for the manufacture of glycolipids from the University of Arizona (UA) and further developed this patented synthetic process to more efficiently produce glycolipid structures for R&D studies and commercial research purposes, with a focus on metal recovery from MIW. UArizona has been conducting fundamental research on glycolipid surfactant interactions with metals since 1991 with a specific glycolipid biosurfactant called rhamnolipid. Beginning in 2017, the UA started collaborating with GlycoSurf to study the recovery of metals from aqueous systems using GlycoSurf’s rhamnolipid-inspired glycolipids. Using glycolipids, this project will demonstrate the selective removal of metals with great valorization potential (e.g. the rare earth elements) in a sustainable manner; glycolipids are bioinspired molecules with low toxicity, high biodegradability, and renewable synthetic feedstocks. Using their diverse characteristics, our glycolipids can be purpose-tailored for various technologies which makes them versatile and resilient to changing conditions. Objectives: For this project, we aim to create a green, selective, and versatile platform of glycolipid-based technologies to enable metals recovery across a broad spectrum of MIW physicochemical conditions. To do this, we have developed a purpose-tailorable glycolipid synthetic process, and two promising approaches for selective metals recovery: 1) ion flotation and 2) selective chemical precipitation paired with a separation process (e.g. gravitational settling, centrifugation, and/or filtration). This multi-technology, modular platform aims to be resilient to temporal variability in MIW properties, scalable to different MIW volumes, and adaptable to specific applications either as a standalone system or applied to existing process streams. To demonstrate the use of glycolipid technologies for the valorization of metals from MIW, this project will pursue the following objectives: Technical Objective 1 (TO1): Produce ~100g batches of multiple glycolipid materials for initial proof of concept testing by UArizona, using our existing synthetic process. Process improvements may be implemented in this Objective as necessary Technical Objective 2 (TO2): Development of optimized treatment approaches for Rio Tinto’s MIW. Because each MIW exhibits unique physicochemical properties and unique valorisation targets, an optimization process will identify the most suitable technology (ion flotation vs. selective precipitation), glycolipid extractant, and solution conditions in our lab scale apparatus to achieve technical performance targets. In achieving these objectives, GlycoSurf will deliver metal recovery technologies that are simpler, more selective, more reusable than current MIW treatment technologies like lime slaking, reverse osmosis, or specialized adsorbents. UArizona Scope of Work: In this proposal, UArizona researchers will be responsible for the execution of Technical Objective 2 research efforts. These efforts will focus on characterization of Rio Tinto MIW samples, evaluation of pH effects on solution metals, evaluation of glycolipid-based metal recovery in ion flotation and precipitation applications, and optimization of metal removal processes. Using the data gathered in Technical Objective 2, UArizona will assist and advise GlycoSurf during the development of the next research phase which will include the development of a larger laboratory-scale system. Furthermore, UArizona researchers will leverage their connections within the mining industry to facilitate collaboration between industry partners and proposal researchers.