Warsaw-listed investment company Virtus Group has established offices in British Columbia to recover base metals from post-mining and armament waste using a proprietary technology developed by Polish electrochemist Dr. Hab. Przemysław Łoś, the company announced on October 27, 2026.

Virtus aims to build a portfolio of projects within six months and list on the TSX-V. The company estimates there are about 10,000 abandoned mines in Canada, while active mines generate approximately 650 million tonnes of extractive waste annually — significant potential sources of critical minerals including nickel.

Industrial and military waste is also rich in copper and zinc, which the company says can be efficiently and profitably recovered using Łoś’s technology.

Virtus notes that for every tonne of extracted metal, between 20 and 200 tonnes of solid waste are generated. In Ontario’s Sudbury region alone, the company estimates there are between 80 million and 100 million tonnes of pyrrhotite waste grading 0.8% nickel, with a value of billions of Canadian dollars.

Virtus is conducting a review of dumps across Canada until the end of February 2027, with samples being tested using the recovery technology. The company aims to present the results by March 2027, after which it will decide whether to proceed with a Toronto listing.

For Virtus, the Canadian expansion also serves as a test of the scalability of its recovery technology and an opportunity to build an ecosystem of mutually reinforcing projects.