Emewcorporation
Emew Corporation designs and deploys proprietary vortex electrowinning systems (Plate, Powder, Polish cells) for recovering high-purity metals from e-waste, industrial wastewater, refinery bleed, battery waste, and precious-metal feeds, serving global mining, refining, and recycling enterprises across six continents.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1992
- HeadquartersBurnaby, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Emewcorporation does
Emew Corporation, founded in 1992 and headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, is a clean-technology company that designs and deploys proprietary vortex electrowinning systems for metal recovery from complex waste streams. Its technology centers on three cell architectures — emew Plate for concentrated electrolytes above 10 g/L producing solid cathodes, emew Powder for lower concentrations below 5 g/L producing automated metal powder (notably silver at 99.99%+ purity), and emew Polish for ultra-dilute streams below 5 ppm — supported by a closed-loop acid-regenerating system that reduces acid consumption by up to 90%. Applications span e-waste, industrial wastewater, precious-metals refining, copper refinery bleed, and lithium-ion battery black-mass processing, with named enterprise customers across mining and refining (Freeport-McMoRan, BHP, Barrick Gold, Rand Refinery), recycling (Redwood Materials, Enviro-Leach, Sircel), electronics manufacturing (HCL, TTM Technologies, Bosch), and other industrial sectors (Adani, Condumex, Luvata, Aquafil, DOE-RUN).
The company monetizes through three revenue streams: sale and installation of metal-recovery hardware systems, licensing of vortex electrowinning technology for specific applications and geographies, and engineering services plus ongoing technical support. Distribution is executed via a consultative enterprise field-sales motion backed by a global office network covering North America (Vancouver, Toronto R&D lab), Asia Pacific (Melbourne, Vadodara), the Middle East (Dubai logistics center), Europe (Dublin), and Latin America (Mexico City), with a stated 48-hour consultation response commitment. The technology is protected by a portfolio of international patents dating to the original 1992 PCT/AU92/00052 filing, and customer-reported outcomes include 80% CO2 reduction, 90% labor reduction, and 11 million liters of freshwater savings per installation. Emew is privately held with a leadership team chaired by Greg Melgaard and led by CEO Ian Ewart, and has been continuously operating and self-funded through 30+ years without disclosed institutional venture or private-equity backing.
Emewcorporation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Emewcorporation
- Legal name
- emew Corporation
- Website
- https://emew.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1992
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Emew Corporation designs and deploys proprietary vortex electrowinning systems (Plate, Powder, Polish cells) for recovering high-purity metals from e-waste, industrial wastewater, refinery bleed, battery waste, and precious-metal feeds, serving global mining, refining, and recycling enterprises across six continents.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Emewcorporation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Industrial Metal Recovery Equipment
- NAICS
- Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining (33141), Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Production and Processing (3314)
- SIC
- Primary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3330), Secondary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3341)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Precious & Specialty Metal Recovery (Smelting, Refining, Hydrometallurgy) (EUAIAIAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- E-Waste & Electronics Metal Recovery (ITAD, Circuit Boards, Precious Metal Recovery) (IMAKAMAG), Copper Refining (Electrorefining & Fire Refining) (IMAKADAF), Battery Materials Refining & Re-Manufacturing Feedstocks (Li, Ni, Co, Mn, Graphite Salts) (EUAIAIAJ)
Keywords
Where Emewcorporation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Burnaby
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices7 records
Markets served
Emewcorporation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Metal Recovery Equipment and Systems: Sale and installation of emew electrowinning systems for metal recovery from various waste streams including e-waste, industrial wastewater, refinery bleed, precious metals, and lithium-ion batteries.
- Technology Licensing: Licensing of proprietary emew technologies including vortex electrowinning processes for specific applications and geographic markets.
- Technical Services and Support: Engineering services, process optimization, and ongoing technical support for customers operating emew systems worldwide.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Emewcorporation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Emewcorporation designs, manufactures, and services proprietary vortex electrowinning cell systems (emew Plate, emew Powder, emew Polish, and Copper Liberators) used by mining, refining, recycling, and industrial manufacturing customers to recover high-purity metals — including copper, silver, nickel, cobalt, tin, gold, and selenium — from e-waste, industrial wastewater, refinery bleed, and lithium-ion battery waste streams. Deliverables include custom-engineered hardware systems, licensing of the underlying process technology, and ongoing engineering and technical support.
Product overview
Emewcorporation offers a suite of clean technology solutions for metal recovery based on proprietary vortex electrowinning technology. The core product portfolio consists of three main electrowinning cell types: emew Plate for concentrated electrolytes (>10g/L) producing solid metal cathodes, emew Powder for lower concentrations (<5g/L) producing automated metal powder harvesting, and emew Polish for ultra-low concentrations (<5ppm) enabling extraction from dilute solutions. These technology platforms are applied across five key application areas: e-waste metal recovery, industrial wastewater treatment, precious metals refining, copper refinery bleed processing, and battery waste (lithium-ion) processing. The company recovers various metals including copper, silver, nickel, cobalt, tin, gold, and selenium. The modular, closed-loop systems are designed for sustainability, offering acid regeneration, reduced reagent consumption, and high-purity metal output suitable for resale or direct use.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- emew Plate: Electrowinning cell for concentrated electrolytes typically above 10g/L metal concentration, used for copper, nickel, and tin cathode recovery
- emew Powder
- emew Polish
- emew Liberator
Products and services
- emew Plate An electrowinning cell used for concentrated electrolytes (typically above 10 g/L), producing coherent solid metal cathode plating to a starter sheet. Designed for copper, nickel, and tin recovery in mining, refining, and recycling applications, with cathode areas of 0.5 m² or 1 m², flow rate ~6,000 L/hr, and production of 5–15 kg per day.
- emew Powder A fully automated electrowinning cell producing metal powder via an automated flushing process. Operates at lower concentrations (<5 g/L), higher current density, and lower flow rate (~2,000 L/hr), producing 1–25 kg per day. Targeted at precious metals recovery such as silver, gold-silver alloys, and palladium.
- emew Polish A high-efficiency electrowinning cell using a proprietary high-surface-area cathode to recover metals from concentrations below 5 ppm. Enables direct electrowinning at extremely low concentrations where conventional technology is not viable. Suitable for silver refineries, zinc refineries, and dilute industrial wastewater streams; flow rate ~6,000 L/hr.
- Copper Liberators (emew Liberator) Advanced closed-cell technology for fast, safe, and efficient copper recovery from refinery bleed streams. Replaces conventional copper liberator technology with improved copper and impurity control over a wide concentration range, delivering high-grade, saleable copper cathode from refinery bleed.
- E-Waste Metal Recovery Solution A two-step solution combining digestion and emew electrowinning to produce high-purity copper cathode from electronic waste. Designed as a cleaner, cost-effective alternative to traditional e-waste recovery, for e-waste recyclers and electronics manufacturers processing PCBs, phones, computing equipment, and similar scrap.
- Industrial Wastewater Treatment Solution On-site closed-loop, acid-regenerating system for industrial wastewater treatment and copper recovery from spent process streams. Eliminates the downtime of conventional treatment and reduces acid use by up to 90%, for semiconductor, metal finishing, and industrial manufacturing customers with metal-contaminated wastewater.
- Precious Metals Recovery Solution A fully automatic, fully enclosed electrowinning system that recovers high-grade silver and other precious metals from ores and feeds. Produces high-purity silver powder (typically 99.99%+) from low-concentration feeds without cementation, for silver, gold, and palladium refiners.
- Copper Refinery Bleed Recovery Solution An emew Liberator-based solution offering advanced closed-cell technology for copper recovery from refinery bleed streams. Improves copper and impurity control over a range of concentrations, delivers high-grade saleable copper cathode, and eliminates acid mist and toxic gas generation.
- Battery Waste Processing Solution A lithium-ion battery recycling solution that avoids SX/IX processes and copper sulfide/iron precipitation. Extracts over 90% of copper selectively from black mass leachate and converts it into high-purity copper cathodes for direct resale, for lithium-ion battery recyclers.
Quantifiable outcome
- 80% reduction in CO2 emissions
- +10 more outcomes
Companies that use Emewcorporation
Customer profileNamed customers17 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Emewcorporation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature5 records
Emewcorporation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- BQE WatercoreStrategic partnership for selenium recovery and low-grade silver and gold processing using emew technology. Collaboration began in 2018 expanding applications to copper powder, low-grade silver and gold, and selenium recovery.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves15 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Emewcorporation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Umicore: Umicore is a global materials technology and recycling company with major precious metals and battery materials refining operations. As a customer-style adjacent operator, it competes with Emew-enabled offerings in precious metals refining and battery feedstock recovery.
- Glencore Technology: Glencore Technology licenses proprietary smelting and refining technologies (e.g., ISASMELT, ISACONVERT) widely used by copper and base-metal producers. It is an incumbent licensor competing for the same copper refining and metal recovery process mandates that Emew targets with its vortex electrowinning.
- Aurubis: Aurubis is one of the world's largest copper recyclers and refiners, operating multi-metal recovery plants in Europe and the U.S. While vertically integrated rather than a pure equipment vendor, it competes directly with Emew-enabled refinery bleed and copper recovery solutions at the operator level.
- KGHM Polska Miedź: KGHM is one of the world's largest integrated copper and silver producers with in-house hydrometallurgical and electrorefining operations. It is comparable as a vertically integrated copper/silver refiner that also develops in-house metal recovery technology competing with Emew's licensing offerings.
- Worley: Worley is a global engineering and project services company with a significant energy, chemicals, and mining practice. It competes for hydrometallurgical plant design and integration contracts that Emew's technology is plugged into, making it a broad-incumbent peer for metal recovery project work.
Direct peers
- Hatch: Hatch is a global engineering and project delivery firm specializing in mining, metals, and energy hydrometallurgy. It designs competing refining and metal recovery flowsheets and competes for the same engineering, process, and licensor mandates that Emew's vortex technology targets.
- Metso: Metso is one of the largest suppliers of mining and metals processing equipment, including hydrometallurgical and electrowinning solutions for copper, nickel, and other metals. It is the closest large-scale, capital-equipment competitor to Emew in copper refining and metal recovery plant technology.
- FLSmidth: FLSmidth supplies mineral processing and hydrometallurgical equipment across base metals, precious metals, and battery materials. Like Emew, it serves copper refiners, e-waste processors, and battery materials producers with engineered plant solutions.
Emerging players
- Li-Cycle: Li-Cycle is a lithium-ion battery recycler using a hydrometallurgical "spoke-and-hub" model and is explicitly a downstream user of selective copper recovery technology. It is highly comparable to Emew's battery waste application segment where copper is selectively stripped from black mass.
- Aqua Metals: Aqua Metals commercializes a hydrometallurgical, water-based recycling platform for lead-acid batteries with selective metal recovery. Its electrochemical cell approach and modular plant design are technically adjacent to Emew's vortex electrowinning, making it a relevant emerging peer in clean electrochemical metal recovery.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Emewcorporation social profiles
Digital presenceEmewcorporation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Emewcorporation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Emewcorporation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Emewcorporation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Emewcorporation
What does Emewcorporation do?
Emewcorporation designs, manufactures, and services proprietary vortex electrowinning cell systems (emew Plate, emew Powder, emew Polish, and Copper Liberators) used by mining, refining, recycling, and industrial manufacturing customers to recover high-purity metals — including copper, silver, nickel, cobalt, tin, gold, and selenium — from e-waste, industrial wastewater, refinery bleed, and lithium-ion battery waste streams. Deliverables include custom-engineered hardware systems, licensing of the underlying process technology, and ongoing engineering and technical support.
Is Emewcorporation a public or private company?
Emewcorporation is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Emewcorporation founded?
Emewcorporation was founded in 1992. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Emewcorporation based?
Emewcorporation is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Emewcorporation make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Metal Recovery Equipment and Systems are the primary driver. The others are technology Licensing and technical Services and Support.
Who are Emewcorporation's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Umicore, Glencore Technology, Aurubis, KGHM Polska Miedź and Worley. Direct peers are Hatch, Metso and FLSmidth. Emerging players are Li-Cycle and Aqua Metals.
Does Emewcorporation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Emewcorporation.
What industry is Emewcorporation in?
Emewcorporation's product category is Industrial Metal Recovery Equipment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAIAIAD, Precious & Specialty Metal Recovery (Smelting, Refining, Hydrometallurgy), with a secondary code of IMAKAMAG, E-Waste & Electronics Metal Recovery (ITAD, Circuit Boards, Precious Metal Recovery). Its NAICS code is 33141 and its SIC code is 3330.