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Arca, a startup using mining waste to capture carbon, plans to open up its Series A round "soon," CEO Paul Needham tells Axios Pro.

Why it matters: Arca announced a 10-year deal Wednesday to sell Microsoft carbon removal credits from a future project.

Zoom in: The Microsoft deal is early validation that there are customers willing to pay for removing carbon with Arca's industrial mineralization technology.

PitchBook data puts the upcoming fundraise at $20 million. Needham wouldn't comment on the potential size of the Series A, but an Arca spokesperson said that isn't the final number of the deal.

Arca plans to use the Series A on a future commercial project that would sell the carbon removal credits to Microsoft, as well as a pilot project to validate the microwave tech.

Needham says Arca is also conducting early research on how the microwave tech and the carbonization process can bind the mine waste together and deliver an environmental benefit to mining companies.

How it works: For billions of years, carbon dioxide from the air has been naturally captured and held in rock formations. But it's happened over long periods of time. 

Arca has developed a series of technologies that monitor and speed up this process using mine tailings, a mining byproduct, as a source.

Arca's first technologies include sensing tech to track and verify the sequestered carbon and a rover that stirs up the waste to catalyze the carbon removal process.

Arca is also in the process of validating tech that microwaves the tailings to increase the amount of magnesium emitted, which binds with the carbon.

Catch up quick: Arca, based in Vancouver, previously raised $14.5 million across pre-seed and seed rounds from Lowercarbon Capital, WovenEarth Ventures, Side Stage Ventures, InBC Investment and Saniel Ventures, among others.

The company was co-founded in 2021 by University of British Columbia scientists including geological sciences professor Greg Dipple. 

Arca has conducted a pilot project using the monitoring and stirring tech on a Western Australian nickel mine owned by BHP.

Zoom out: Microsoft is by far the world leader in paying for carbon removal credits. 

As the tech firm's emissions grow, due to AI data centers, it's leaning into other ways to offset carbon.

Thanks to strong incentives, Canada is emerging as a leader in carbon removal and capture tech.

Mining carbon removal startup Arca readies Series A raise

Arca is churning, monitoring and microwaving mining tailings to capture carbon.

Photo illustration of two cobalt and copper miners with abstract lithium mine textures in the background.

Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photos: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg, Emmet Livingstone/AFP via Getty Images

Arca, a startup using mining waste to capture carbon, plans to open up its Series A round &quot;soon,&quot; CEO Paul Needham tells Axios Pro.Why it matters: Arca <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="announced" data-vars-click-url="https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-signs-10-deal-canadian-174906664.html" data-vars-content-id="65eb0a09-0517-4522-8db1-ed4451ce1086" data-vars-headline="Mining carbon removal startup Arca readies Series A raise" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-signs-10-deal-canadian-174906664.html" target="_blank">announced</a> a 10-year deal Wednesday to sell Microsoft carbon removal credits from a future project.

Mining carbon removal startup Arca readies Series A raise

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