A cleaner path to rare earth metals
Tomás Villalón Jr. ’14 was raised in San Antonio, Texas, but vividly remembers smog hanging over the city his family came from—Monterrey, Mexico, a steel manufacturing and metal fabrication hub. Even as a child, he realized it was problematic to breathe that air. “I’m motivated because I’ve seen what metal-making does,” says Villalón, who majored…
Tomás Villalón Jr. ’14 grew up in San Antonio, Texas, but was acutely aware of the smog that affected his family's hometown of Monterrey, Mexico—a city known for its steel manufacturing and metal fabrication. Recognizing the negative impact of metal production on air quality, Villalón, a materials science and engineering major, began contemplating sustainable metallurgy during his final year of study at MIT.
He worked at Boston Metal, a spinoff focused on decarbonizing steelmaking, before co-founding Phoenix Tailings in 2019. The company specializes in a highly efficient method for extracting rare earth metals from mining waste, addressing the massive volume of waste generated by the mining industry. With chief technology officer Tomás Villalón, and co-founders Michelle Chao ’17, Nick Myers, and Anthony Balladon, Phoenix Tailings claims that its electrochemical process for processing rare earths produces no toxins and is carbon-free when powered by renewable energy sources.
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