Sustainable Mining & ESG Excellence Awards 2026

Business Honor

Company	Management	Description
Atlas Salt Inc. www.atlassalt.com	Nolan K. Peterson CEO	Atlas Salt Inc. is developing North America’s first new salt mine in nearly 30 years, delivering low-cost, high-purity salt through innovative, environmentally responsible underground mining to strengthen domestic supply, infrastructure resilience, and long-term community value.
Impossible Metals www.impossiblemetals.com	Oliver Gunasekara Co-Founder & CEO	Impossible Metals is a U.S.‑based deep‑sea mining technology firm developing autonomous underwater robotics to responsibly harvest critical battery minerals like nickel, cobalt, and copper from ocean floors, advancing sustainable supply for clean energy and EV technologies.
Nth Cycle www.nthcycle.com	Megan O’Connor Co-Founder & CEO	Nth Cycle delivers clean, on-site electro-extraction systems that refine critical metals from batteries, scrap, and ore, enabling scalable, low-carbon, circular supply chains for energy, defense, and advanced technologies worldwide industries.
Phoenix Tailings www.phoenixtailings.com	Nick Myers Co-Founder & CEO	Phoenix Tailings is rebuilding America’s rare earth supply chain through clean, domestic refining, converting tailings and recycled materials into high-purity metals and alloys that power advanced technology, industry, and national security at commercial scale..
REEgen www.reegen.tech	Alexa Schmitz Co-Founder & CEO	REEgen develops sustainable microbial technologies to extract rare earth elements from ores and industrial waste, enabling a cleaner, circular, and secure global supply chain that reduces environmental impact and geopolitical risk for energy, defense, and advanced technologies.