Honoured to be Named a Finalist for Startup of the Year!

We are incredibly excited and honoured to announce that Rockburst has been selected as a finalist for Company of the Year - Startup at the 2025 BC Tech Technology Impact Awards (TIAs)!

For those who may not know, the TIAs are the biggest and longest-running tech awards in British Columbia. Being recognized on this stage, right here in our home province, is a huge milestone for our entire team. It’s a powerful acknowledgment of the hard work and progress we’ve made in developing our CoreBurst™ technology.

So, what’s the big deal about how we break rocks? Well, traditional comminution (a fancy word for crushing and grinding) is a massive consumer of global energy—up to 4% of all electricity! For more than 100 years, the industry has relied on brute force, fighting against the natural strength of rock. We knew there had to be a better way.

Our CoreBurst™ technology flips that entire concept on its head. Instead of crushing from the outside, we use pressurized carbon dioxide (CO₂) to get inside the rock's natural micro-cracks. Then, with a rapid pressure release, the CO₂ expands and breaks the rock apart from within, where it’s much weaker. The result? Our process shows the potential to cut energy use by about 50%.

But it gets even better. We’re not just saving energy; we’re also creating a new path for decarbonization. The CO₂ we use can be captured from industrial sources, and our process creates the perfect conditions for that CO₂ to mineralize and become permanently stored in the rock. We’re turning a huge energy problem into a carbon solution.

As our CEO, Oscar Malpica, puts it: "We are incredibly proud to be recognized by BC Tech as a TIAs finalist alongside other outstanding companies. This nomination is a testament to our team's dedication and the significant potential of our technology. We are focused on providing heavy industry with a viable path to decarbonize their operations, improve their energy efficiency, and contribute to a more sustainable future. Being acknowledged in our home province of British Columbia, a hub of cleantech innovation, is particularly meaningful."

Our journey started in 2020, and since then, we’ve been busy validating our technology on everything from copper and nickel to limestone, working with fantastic industry leaders and our partners at the University of British Columbia. We’re now pushing hard to get our first pilot-scale units out into the field, aiming for commercial operation in 2029.

Thank you to the BC Tech Association for this incredible honour. We can’t wait for the TIAs gala later this year!