In the world of climate solutions, seaweed has emerged as a great green
(or brown or red) hope. Along with being a
superfood, its incredibly
fast growth rate and supercharged carbon-sequestration
ability
have made it a go-to feedstock for next-generation animal
feed,
plastic
films
and
packaging,
textiles
and
fuel.
Now, adding to that list, Blue Evolution — a
California-based climate-tech company dedicated to leveraging seaweed’s
potential to create sustainable solutions for a carbon-negative future — has
launched Orca Minerals: the first US-based
platform to deliver regenerative biomining of critical minerals using
cultivated seaweed, in response to growing global urgency around strategic
mineral
supply.
Building on over a decade of seaweed farming and bioprocessing led by Blue
Evolution, Orca Minerals aims to help set a new global standard for critical
mineral recovery — one that restores, rather than extracts. By cultivating
seaweed to absorb trace elements such as rare earth elements and strategic
metals, Orca introduces Blue Evolution’s Zero+ framework into the mineral
economy: zero waste, zero depletion, zero human exploitation — and measurable
co-benefits for ecosystems and communities alike.
“Orca’s platform spans both offshore and controlled onshore cultivation —
tailored to species, site and mineral profile,” said Matt
McGarvey, initiative
lead for Orca Minerals. “Its modular systems enable localized production in
alignment with biodiversity goals and ocean stewardship protocols.”
A regenerative alternative to extractive mining
While traditional mining remains dependent on global supply chains for refining,
Orca’s approach enables onshore, nature-based mineral harvesting and processing.
By using seaweed to absorb trace elements from seawater and applying green
chemistry to refine them domestically, Orca supports national goals to
strengthen resource security while reducing environmental impact.
Backed by a major grant from the Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy and a strategic collaboration with
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the
Orca team is working with leading US research institutions including UC
Davis and Virginia Tech to develop processes that:
-
Use seaweed to optimally absorb minerals from seawater
-
Refine extraction techniques to efficiently recover those minerals
-
Ensure economic viability and resilience in local and global supply chains
-
Can be implemented both offshore and in controlled onshore environments
Alongside these scientific collaborators, Orca is also pioneering
next-generation measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems and
carbon-accounting protocols — including new frameworks for nature-based blue
carbon capture, utilization and
storage
— to transparently track and monetize ecological co-benefits.
“This research is about understanding how marine plants like seaweed can be
harnessed to bioconcentrate rare earth elements from seawater and thus solve a
complex mineral-sourcing challenge,” said Dr. Michael
Huesemann, Algae
Research Team Lead at PNNL. “In our partnership with Blue Evolution, we’ll
explore scalable, non-extractive and sustainable solutions that may one day
complement or even reduce the need for traditional mining.”
“Our work with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory uncovered something we
hadn’t seen before — rare earth elements and platinum group metals in our
seaweed,” explained Blue Evolution founder and CEO Beau
Perry. “That discovery, backed by the
Department of Energy, opened the door to something bigger. It’s what led us to
launch Orca Minerals.”
Seaweed for sovereignty
Seaweeds absorb essential minerals from seawater — including rare earth elements
such as scandium and yttrium, vital for modern technologies. Where traditional
mining is resource-intensive and environmentally
destructive,
biomining minimizes ecological impact and supports biodiversity.
The launch of Orca Minerals comes at a time when the US is grappling with how to
secure and refine critical minerals without relying on overseas processing.
Another advantage to biomining them through seaweed is that it creates a
sustainable domestic supply
chain
for these key minerals — something many industries are scrambling to
establish
in an era of crippling US tariffs on imported
goods.
As Orca explains in a blog
post:
“Most Americans don’t realize this, but China grows more than half of the
world’s seaweed. And just like with solar panels, lithium batteries and magnets,
it dominates not only production — but processing, R&D and price-setting.
“We can beat them. Not by replicating their model, but by doing it smarter. With
US innovation — genetics, automation, AI, regenerative design — we can grow more
seaweed in Alaska alone than all of China’s current output. That’s not
wishful. It’s geography, biology and policy alignment waiting to happen.”
Nearshoring cleantech supply chains
The Orca team is working to extract a range of rare earth elements and
strategic metals from seaweed that are essential to clean-energy technologies
yet currently rely on environmentally harmful or geopolitically constrained
supply chains, including:
-
Neodymium and Dysprosium – used in high-performance magnets for EV
motors, wind turbines, and advanced electronics.
-
Scandium – a rare earth element with applications in solid-state
batteries and lightweight aluminum alloys for aerospace and defense.
-
Cobalt – a key component in lithium-ion batteries for personal
electronics,
electric vehicles and energy-storage systems.
-
Platinum group metals (PGMs) – used in hydrogen fuel cells and catalytic
converters.
Orca’s approach offers a regenerative, nature-based alternative.
Fast-tracking equitable, inclusive mineral independence
In addition, as
Perry told Sustainable Brands® via email, biomining critical minerals offers
yet another advantage over the economic models of conventional mining.
“Where seabed or hard rock mining projects often take 7-15 years just to begin
production, we believe the seaweed-based approach can reach meaningful scale in
3-5 years,” he explained. “That timeline reflects the initial maturation of the
Orca platform, including new supply chains and extraction technology — but it’s
a one-time start-up horizon. Beyond that, each new site scales much faster —
with lower permitting friction and capital intensity. We’re building a system
where critical minerals can be produced alongside other high-value seaweed
co-products — faster, cleaner and closer to home.”
With over a century of combined expertise in seaweed and mariculture, the Blue
Evolution team works in close partnership with indigenous and coastal
communities to drive restoration, resilience and shared value at scale. Orca
Minerals is committed to ensuring Indigenous and coastal communities are not
just included but positioned as co-creators of the new mineral economy. The
company is building equity structures to enable ownership, R&D collaboration,
revenue sharing and leadership across its global partnerships.
Blue Evolution estimates that a first working prototype will be operational by
2027, with commercial viability targeted for 2028. Early work includes
development of an onshore grow facility, where seaweed strains can be optimized
for mineral uptake. Initial development is focused on red, green and brown
seaweed species already in production at Blue Evolution’s Alaska and
Mexico operations.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published May 16, 2025 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST