Below are Tommiâs preliminary comments as Betolar publishes its Q1 results on Friday. 
We expect revenue to have grown as the commercial phase progresses, and losses to have shrunk due to cost-saving measures. The cash position is strengthened by a tranche of the climate fund loan drawn earlier in the year. Our interest on the results day focuses on a significant innovation in key technologies, based on the companyâs comments.
Betolar Oyj
Company Announcement
23 April 2025 at 1:30 p.m.
Betolar Oyj: Jyri Talja has been appointed Growth Director and invited to join the Management Team
Betolar expands into the Canadian market.
Material technology company Betolar announces that it is developing a cement-free mine backfill solution for Canadian Royalties Incâs Nunavik Nickel project.
Betolarâs solution replaces the cement typically used in mine backfill with industrial side streams and offers a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in mining operations.
According to Betolarâs press release, the companies aim to commercialize the solution in early 2026 based on a techno-commercial study and piloting.
The press release states that the partnership is important for Betolar, as it enables the company to expand its operations into the Canadian market.
And hereâs the press release on the matter:
Press Release
And more press releases are coming:
Betolar Plc
Press Release
April 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Betolar Plc: 99% Metal Recovery Verified in Tests
Betolarâs new innovative method for metal separation and green cement production has been tested at pilot scale with excellent results in cooperation with a Nordic partner. In metallurgical processes, a significant amount of valuable metals can remain in the slag. Thanks to Betolarâs method, slags can be purified from valuable fractions by 99%, and at the same time, the purified residual slag can be utilized as a binder, a green cement. Experiments carried out last week with the partner were successful as expected, achieving, for example, approximately 99% chromium recovery.
https://www.inderes.fi/releases/betolar-oyj-metallien-99percent-saanto-todenneta-testeissa
âThe strong results from the pilot-scale tests clearly demonstrate the potential of our technology. We can now proceed with commercialization and scaling the method towards industrial scale,â states the companyâs CEO Tuija Kalpala.
Here are Tomâs comments on Betolarâs Q1 results.
I wonder if Outokumpu is the first customer for this technology?
It is indeed a great innovation. As a layman, one might ponder that the global revenue potential is quite immense.
How could this technology be utilized in the case of mines that have already ceased operations? In Finland too, there are such mines with large waste areas where a significant amount of tailings has accumulated over decades. Large quantities of metals could be extracted from these, and the rest used as a binder.
How profitable could this be if there is no longer a mine or a concentrator in operation?
Edit after a small internet exploration.
The former Outokumpu mine in Lampinsaari was in operation from 1954-1992. It has a tailings waste area of 90 ha. This has been landscaped.
Quote from the linked text:
âââ24.4 Mt of tailings were generated from ore enrichment, of which 13.7 Mt has been placed in the waste area and approximately 10.7 Mt in underground mine backfill.âââ
According to Chat GPT, metal concentrations in old piles are likely significantly higher than in current ones due to the inefficiency of old processesâ separation. It would indeed be interesting to know what kind of facility Betolarâs innovation requires, if, based on the call, the technology utilizes heat, etcâŠ
Who would then operate on the old piles? A completely new business would need to be created, and that requires money and time. Environmental permitting might also play a role, at least in Finland. Betolar has a rather thin cash reserve to do anything substantial. Perhaps a small commercial project with a mining company is ahead, and then theyâll go to the ownerâs purse to get the operation scaled up. Based on the call, Betolarâs other business has enough challenges in the current global situationâŠ.
@Tommi_Saarinen It remained a bit unclear from the discussion whether tailings can be utilized after metal separation? Are chemical impurities (sulfides, etc.) also removed along with the metals? Or can green cement be refined only from slag after metal separation?
Tommi has prepared a new company report following Betolarâs Q1.
Betolarâs Q1 report fell short of our expectations regarding order intake, which led us to lower our current year forecasts. In our opinion, a new metal separation method has emerged as the core of the investment story, and its economic potential seems significant. However, the path to becoming a commercial product is still long. Although we raised our medium-term forecasts, in light of current information, we are not ready to lean more heavily on this potential, but rather await more detailed information on the subject from Betolarâs Capital Markets Day. Reflecting the forecast changes, we raise our target price to 1.2 euros and reiterate our reduce recommendation.
In this extensive article by Tekniikka & Talous magazine, here, the operating principles are discussed in more detail.
Based on this: To a certain hot slag (converter slag and ladle slag mentioned), a reducing agent is added, which separates the remaining metal from the slag. For this reason, the production must take place in connection with a steel mill.
Then, to the remaining slag, tailings are added, whereby the slag should change its properties to resemble blast furnace slag.
So, in my understanding, the metal is specifically separated from the slag, and the tailings would become part of the final product as such.
Hereâs some related reading if youâre interested. A GTK expert talks about mine tailings in the article.
One excerpt from the article:
âââââIn addition to the waste volume growing at operational mines, there is also waste at closed mines. According to a GTK study from a couple of years ago, a total of approximately 98 million tonnes of tailings and 29 million tonnes of waste rock have been deposited in the waste areas of 35 closed mines.âââââ
A lot of money could be saved, and thereâs also an opportunity to earn from these waste piles. One would think the Finnish state would also be interested in this matter. Firstly, that operational mines would no longer accumulate waste, and secondly, that old waste areas could be removed and the areas restored to their natural state. The state could also support this in part.
CEO Tuija Kalpala was interviewed by Tommi at the companyâs Capital Markets Day.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction
00:13 Betolarâs development path
03:24 The companyâs most significant achievements
04:38 What could have been done differently?
05:32 Innovation in metal separation at the core of the strategy
07:18 Next steps for commercializing the technology
08:40 Customer base
10:05 Betolar Optimize solution
12:27 Timeline for commercial advancements
Recently, interesting news has emerged from the concrete field. Although Betolar seems to have abandoned concrete products in its strategy, does anyone have a sense of the scale to which Betolarâs solution has been industrially applied, based on old news reports? I recall at least one manufacturer in Belgium, perhaps even in Finland, that published information on the use of geopolymers some time ago.
As a point of comparison, for example, Lakan Betoniâs recent technology choice for CO2 utilization, where the announcement stated an initial scale of 1000 tons of CO2. When I looked into the data from the technology provider, Carbonaide, that amount would be sufficient for approximately 10,000 cubic meters of production at 100kgCO2/m3 of concrete. For paving stone products, this quantity corresponds to about 120,000-200,000m2 of products. Was the concrete product market really so hopeless for Betolar if a company less than 3 years old is already achieving this pace?
Also interesting was the statement found at the end of the press release: âIn addition, carbonation enables the use of entirely new binders. For example, slag generated in stainless steel production can be utilized as a cement substitute.â Wasnât this very binder still Betolarâs focus even today?
While googling the latest news based on this, I also found a collaboration with Elematic, which seems to focus on more distant markets, similar to Betolar at some point. Betolar has not abandoned hollow-core slabs, at least based on media materials.
In the Bauma Innovation Award, another CO2 treatment technology, Rotho, which specializes in curing chambers for manufacturers, also received recognition. Related to Heidelberg, the same CO2 treatment reference can be found, at least at a research level:
âLithonplus is currently working with its parent company, HeidelbergMaterials, on a research project, in collaboration with the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the Technical University of Munich, among others, aimed at developing CO2-neutral concrete. During the curing process, CO2 is introduced into the concrete through carbonation and permanently bound there.â
All of these refer to precast concrete products, but they are clearly gaining significant momentum. Has Betolar shown any initiatives regarding this CO2 topic, or is this topic a threat to the geopolymer route?
Thanks for the good points, here are a few thoughts related to the topics you raised.
Betolarâs Geoprime concrete has been used, for example, in parking lot paving and sewer pipes. However, based on the development of turnover, it can be concluded that production volumes have remained very low.
The reference to an entirely new binder is indeed interesting. Betolar has extensively researched the use of potential new binders, which is also at the core of the companyâs new method.
A company called CarbonCure has made environmentally friendly concrete with similar technology to Carbonaide. A question mark for me has been the costs associated with CO2 capture and transfer at this scale. A million-euro investment and commissioning at the Lakan plant are indeed a sign of cost-effectiveness.
I cannot say directly whether this technology could be used in geopolymer concrete. Betolar has not yet made initiatives towards carbon capture and storage.
Betolar announced that the properties of green cement produced with its new method correspond to traditional Portland cement and widely exceed the performance of blast furnace slag-based binder currently in use.
Here are Tommiâs more comprehensive comments regarding this recent news about Betolar.