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CEF invests in Metalysis Limited

07/02/2005

The Coalfields Enterprise Fund, as part of a funding syndicate, has invested in Metalysis Limited, raising the largest fund for this sector in the last five years.

Metalysis, a metals extraction pioneer, announces the completion of a £5 million venture capital funding round co-led by Seven Spires Investments and 3i, along with syndicate members The Coalfields Enterprise Fund along with Generics Asset Management and Cambridge Capital Group. Together with national and European grant money, the round will be used to continue the scale-up and commercialisation of a unique metals extraction process.

The company holds exploitation rights for the new electrochemical reduction process developed by Professor Derek Fray’s research group in the materials department of Cambridge University. The FFC Cambridge process, patented globally in 1998, is a novel electrolytic method for reducing metal oxide to metal in a molten salt. The process economics indicate that some metals can be produced at a fraction of the price, including tantalum, zirconium, beryllium, silicon, molybdenum, vanadium, tungsten and niobium.

The metallurgy market impacts on everyday life; from increasing use of super capacitors in mobile phones to critical light alloys deployed in aerospace and automotive products. Metalysis is exploiting the FFC Cambridge process, a novel technique for the extraction of metals from their oxide. Developed by Prof. Derek Fray and his team at Cambridge University, the process works for a wide range of high value metals and offers significant economic and environmental benefits over conventional extraction techniques

Founded in Cambridge in 2002, the company relocated to South Yorkshire in late 2004 where it is building a production facility for the process. The company is also working to close a number of commercial deals with leading international metals companies to further exploit the process.

Dr Graham Cooley, Chief Executive of Metalysis said: “We are delighted to have closed this round. Metalysis has strong intellectual property, an experienced management team and commercial deals which will provide strong early revenues. Combined with the new investment syndicate we have all the elements in place to become a world class company.”