Frequently asked questions
Answers to common questions about who we are and what we do
Who is Aspiring Materials?
We're a cleantech company that has developed a world-first process to produce high-quality industry grade carbon-free critical minerals from a single globally abundant rock feedstock. We commissioned a first-of-a-kind mineral processing pilot plant in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand in March 2025. In August 2026 Aspiring Materials announced plans to build the first commercial facility in Southland supported in part with funding from the NZ Government's Regional Infrastructure Fund. Read more about the proposed Southland facility below.
Who founded the company?
Aspiring Materials was founded by Dr Christopher Oze, Mark Chadderton and Dr Matthew Watson. The trio bring together decades of deep expertise in geology, chemical engineering and industrial commercialisation. Read the origin story.
What are the critical minerals Aspiring Materials produce?
Using our patented ‘Aspiring Process’, we produce four key minerals/ mineral compounds: magnesium hydroxide, nickel mixed hydroxide, iron hydroxide and reactive silica. The final stage of the process also produces green hydrogen. Read more about our products.
What are the market applications for these critical minerals?
The minerals we produce are deemed ‘critical’ by all major economies for their specific application across key strategic sectors of defence, clean energy, electronics, advanced manufacturing and building & construction.
Aspiring Materials is focused on supplying minerals to domestic markets that are essential for society: agriculture, water, energy, building & construction.
Under traditional extraction processes, these minerals carry supply risk with production and refining highly concentrated in just a few locations that can be vulnerable to geopolitical disruptions.
What makes Aspiring Materials critical minerals cleaner than traditional sources?
Our patented ‘Aspiring Process’ is highly efficient, utilising the entire rock feedstock to produce valuable minerals. The process separates out each individual mineral cleanly and discreetly, resulting in high-purity products.
Due to the composition of the rock feedstock and the Aspiring Process, no emissions are released and any waste produced (e.g. brine) is recycled for reuse. This differs from conventional mineral production, which use processes that release CO2 (e.g. via calcination) and require high heat often only met by fossil fuel energy.
The Aspiring Process requires less energy than conventional production methods and can be run entirely with clean renewable energy.
For every tonne of our clean minerals used in industrial applications, a total of up to 1.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions can be avoided.
How does the performance of Aspiring Materials critical minerals compare with conventionally produced minerals?
From a chemistry perspective, Aspiring Materials critical minerals are exact replacements for their fossil-fuel derived counterparts. That means they can deliver the same operational results as the incumbent options.
We're committed to have every mineral tested and verified by independent 3rd party labs against industry standards (where applicable).
Aspiring Materials is also committed to gaining relevant international accreditation (where applicable, e.g. ISO and ASTM certification).
What rock is used as the feedstock and where it is found?
The rock Aspiring Materials uses in our Aspiring Process to produce minerals is a type of ultramafic rock which originates from Earth’s mantle and is rich in the mineral olivine.
Over a geological time scale, these olivine-rich rocks have made their way to the surface by way of geological processes. Olivine-rich rocks primarily comprise magnesium, iron and silica and can be both igneous (solidified molten rock) and metamorphic (heated and pressurised rock).
Does this process mean we need to mine for the rocks?
Not yet. Olivine is the most abundant mineral on earth. While most of this is still underground, it’s in the order of trillions of tonnes. Today, there is already a vast amount of olivine-rich rock on or being brought to Earth’s surface through other mining activities (rare earth metals mining for example).
Olivine is viewed as a low-value waste-rock material, commonly used as roading aggregate or in steel production. As an example of accessible volume, in NZ alone around ½ million tonnes of olivine is being extracted each year from just one existing operation. There is no need to break new ground soon.
How is Aspiring Materials using rocks to capture carbon?
Aspiring Materials low-carbon magnesium hydroxide is an incredible medium for carbon dioxide removal. Our patented carbon mineralisation technology uses water and magnesium hydroxide to mineralise carbon dioxide (CO2) and create a solid material called magnesium carbonate, the same material used as climbers' chalk.
The chemical reaction that occurs is almost instant and durably bonds the CO2 to the magnesium. This technology can be used to sequester carbon dioxide at both point source (e.g. industrial smokestacks or gas flues) or directly from the air.
How much magnesium hydroxide does it take to capture 1 tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2)?
Aspiring Materials carbon mineralisation technology captures up to 1 tonne of CO2 per 1.3 tonnes of magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2).
What can you do with magnesium carbonate?
Magnesium carbonate (MgCO3), the material created by capturing carbon dioxide with magnesium hydroxide, is a useful input for a range of applications.
A common use is climber's chalk, for magnesium carbonate's superior moisture absorption qualities. The inorganic material is non-toxic and poses no risk to humans, animals or the natural environment.
Magnesium carbonate is used a fire retardant (e.g. in fire extinguishers and fireproof materials); to make refractory bricks (for high heat industrial applications such as steel making); and has the potential to be used as a cement substitute (supplementary cementitious material, or SCM) in cement manufacturing.
What support and funding has the company received to date?
Aspiring Materials has been well recognised by the global climate and cleantech sector. Founders Dr Chris Oze and Mark Chadderton are Breakthrough Energy Fellows, and the company is an Elemental Impact Portfolio company, a programme participant in EnergyLab's 2026 Climate Solutions Accelerator, an APAC Cleantech25, a 2024 NZ Hi-Tech finalist, 1 of 10 PepsiCo 2023 APAC Greenhouse Accelerator participants and was a three-times nominee for The EarthShot Prize.
The company has been supported with ongoing New Zealand and overseas venture capital from Motion Capital, Icehouse Ventures, Outset Ventures, K1W1, Breakthrough Energy, Elemental Impact and more recently Impact Ventures.
When will this technology be running at an industrial scale?
In March 2025 Aspiring Materials commissioned Stage 1 of the first-of-a-kind mineral processing pilot plant, producing quantities for industrial operators to trial and assess the minerals as drop-in replacements to traditionally sourced options.
In August 2026 we announced our plans to build the first commercial-scale clean tech critical minerals facility in Southland, New Zealand. Our goal is to have the first stage of operation complete by 2028.
Please get in touch if this is of interest to you and your operation.
Answers to questions about our proposed facility in Southland, New Zealand
Why has Aspiring Materials chosen Southland for the commercial facility?
Southland is a natural fit for Aspiring Materials for several reasons.
Existing local quarries provide easy access to waste rock and many of the industries that will directly benefit from Aspiring Materials’ local mineral production are sited there. This includes producers of agricultural supplements as well as cement and metal manufacturers.
There are also good regional transport links by land and the proximity to SouthPort will provide an efficient export network.
Have you chosen a site in Southland?
We are looking forward to being based in Southland for a very long time so are currently working with many in the region to confirm the best location.
We’re also passionate about energy and environmental excellence along with sustainable development so that will inform the distribution and logistics requirements.
Do you require consents to operate?
The potential sites we are considering are already zoned for industrial activity.
We will work closely with the regional council to ensure the site has all the appropriate consents.
Will there be any environmental or health impacts for people living near the facility?
The Aspiring Materials plant has been carefully designed to ensure it is both safe and will have a very low impact on the local environment.
As with any industrial facility, there will be some operational noise, but no emissions or odour will be produced. Our process is circular, so we produce next to no waste, and we have designed it to run on renewable energy sources.
How safe will the facility be?
A safe and low-hazard environment is paramount to our operation and, as such, we have designed our process to absolutely minimise the chance of serious operational failures.
Throughout our pilot plant build we engaged independent engineering design expertise through BECA and Worley Engineering, and our design has undergone multiple hazard risk assessments and independent engineering validation with industry leaders DETA and Greenfern Dynamics.
The same rigour will be applied to the Southland operation.
Our process operates at ambient temperatures under low pressure and uses common chemicals that have very low hazard risk. Like our pilot plant, the new facility will be designed for safe containment of any potential chemical spills.
Do you plan to engage with the local Southland communities?
We are already in touch with the Southland community through local government, iwi, infrastructure providers and the industries we aim to support.
When we have our site selected and a consenting and construction timeline, we will hold community forums to share our plans with Southlanders and understand any feedback the community has.
We want to provide in-person as well as online opportunities for local people and businesses to ask questions, share ideas and raise any concerns. One of the attractions of Southland is the close knit and supportive community that speaks plainly and works together on solutions if needed.
What needs to happen for the Southland facility to become a reality?
We are working with local partners to confirm the best location in Southland for the facility before applying for any necessary resource consents and finalising the plant design. Part of plant design stage includes expansion of our existing Christchurch pilot plant into a larger demonstration facility.
With the RIF funding now in place, we anticipate remaining private sector project funding will follow quickly.
At the same time, we are in talks with a range of potential industrial customers to establish long-term purchasing agreements for our products.
What will happen to the Christchurch pilot site?
The Christchurch pilot plant is being expanded to upgrade from batch to continuous production and will continue as Aspiring Materials’ demonstration plant and R&D hub.
As we will do in the Southland region, we’ll continue to work with local companies and researchers to develop new commercial uses for our products to replace the imported and high-emission versions currently available. We’ll also continue to identify applications to support the local emerging hi-tech and advanced manufacturing sectors.
