Spy agency invests in crit-min startup Alta Resource

Colorado-based start-up Alta Resource Technologies has garnered more funding, including from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, to advance its protein process for separating critical minerals from ore.

A $4.4 million investment was co-led by Silicon Valley’s Data Collective Venture Capital and Voyager Ventures with participation from Orion Industrial Ventures of New York and In-Q-Tel (IQT) – a non-profit strategic investor and the CIA’s venture capital arm, Alta Resource said Monday. Its funding now stands at $10 million, building on initial funding announced in January. 

“Securing resilient, low-impact sources of critical minerals is no longer optional for America and its allies — it’s a strategic imperative,” Alta co-founder and CEO Nathan Ratledge said in a news release. 

“Washington is beginning to respond with the kind of wartime urgency this moment demands, and Alta’s technology is uniquely positioned to deliver,” Ratledge said. “Our protein-based platform gives the U.S. a scalable way to tap into unconventional mineral resources right here at home, while slashing both costs and environmental impact.” 

Critical-mineral supply chains are dominated by China, and the concentration of control has raised alarms about economic and national security. In March, the White House issued an executive order aimed at boosting domestic mineral production and reducing U.S. reliance on foreign supply chains. Alta said its technology offers a timely and scalable solution: a low-impact way to extract high-purity critical minerals from unconventional and previously uneconomic sources.  

Intelligence interest

IQT was founded in 1999 under CIA Director George Tenet to help bridge the gap between the fast-moving world of private sector innovation and the slower procurement processes of government agencies. While it operates independently, IQT is funded largely by the U.S. government and works closely with the CIA, National Security Agency, and other intelligence and defence agencies.

Alta, which has also received grant support from federal partners and the State of Colorado, said the new capital will accelerate development and commercialization of its platform. It uses engineered proteins to selectively bind to and separate critical minerals — including rare earth elements such as neodymium and dysprosium — from low-grade ores and complex waste streams.  

The company said the approach aims to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of mineral extraction while helping to secure domestic supply chains for essential materials used in advanced electronics, clean energy technologies and modern defence systems.  

Engineering breakthroughs

Alta’s platform is based on protein engineering breakthroughs developed in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and researchers at Pennsylvania State University.  

By customizing proteins to bind selectively to individual elements—even at low concentrations in complex mixtures—Alta said its solution offers greater precision than conventional separation methods, and that the result is a step-change in the efficiency, sustainability and economics of processing rare earths and other critical materials. 

The company will use the new funding to expand its technical team, advance commercial pilots, and extend its technology to a broader range of metal targets and feedstocks, including mine tailings, waste streams and end-of-life products.  

“Alta’s protein-based platform demonstrates the promise of engineering biology to address significant national security challenges,” said Jessica Dymond, vice-predisent of technology at IQT.  

“We are excited about supporting Alta’s technological innovation to diversify the nation’s sources of critical minerals and advance domestic processing capabilities.”