BDC Capital and Boston-based Clean Energy Ventures co-led the funding round in the Quebec startup. Exterra will use the money to build a plant that will convert up to 400,000 tonnes of asbestos mine tailings—or residue—annually into metal oxides like magnesium, nickel and silica. The company also seeks to remove carbon from the atmosphere through the process by mineralizing CO2. (The Logic)

Talking point: The Quebec government and Investissement Québec also participated in the funding round. There’s about 800 million tonnes of asbestos mine tailings left in the province, which stopped mining the toxic material in 2012. Governments, companies and researchers are increasingly exploring potential upsides to processing the waste, like capturing carbon and recovering minerals like nickel that could be used in battery manufacturing for electric vehicles. Exterra opened a pilot facility in Val-des-Sources, Que. last year, where the company says it can process about 200 pounds of tailings per hour. The company is also testing its technology on tailings from active mines, like nickel, diamonds and platinum group metals. It aims to build its full-scale plant in 2027.