Ionometallurgy of primary sources for an enhanced raw materials recovery

Project Information

ION4RAW

Grant agreement ID: 815748

DOI

10.3030/815748

Project closed

EC signature date 3 May 2019

Start date 1 June 2019

End date 30 November 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 5 684 450,00

EU contribution

€ 5 684 450,00

Coordinated by

IDENER TECHNOLOGIES SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - ION4RAW (Ionometallurgy of primary sources for an enhanced raw materials recovery)

Reporting period: 2022-06-01 to 2023-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The ION4RAW project proposes an energy, material, and cost-efficient new mineral processing technology to recover by-products from primary sources by means of innovative Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) ionic liquids and advanced electrochemical methods as an only step. A joint recovery of by-products from primary sources that belong to the Cu-Ag-Au group is proposed. Most of the targeted by-product elements are Critical Raw Materials such as bismuth (Bi), germanium (Ge), indium (In), cobalt (Co), platinum (Pt) and antimony (Sb), a group of highly demanded materials which are crucial to Europe’s economy yet without reliable and unhindered access from the EU. Accompanying major product metals, e.g. copper (Cu), silver (Ag), and gold (Au), may also be recovered by this process. The flexibility of the process increases its market penetration potential as a sound systemic solution.
The process development for the ION4RAW project is supported by the mapping and assessment of by-product potential in Europe. The achievements led to a significant increase in by-product metal availability for the EU, thus reducing EU dependency on imports and strengthening EU competitiveness while minimising the environmental impact of mineral processing operations with respect to conventional hydro- and pyro- routes. The technical feasibility of this concept is supported by TRL 2-3. From this starting point, the ION4RAW project reached TRL 5 by implementing a process prototype at Tecnalia Research & Innovation facilities and validating it using real primary samples provided by Scotgold Resources and Cumbres Exploraciones S.A.C. The impact of the ION4RAW project is supported by the intercontinental reach of the project consortium and the External Expert Advisory Board: Cobre las Cruces, Orovalle Minerals, the Minor Metals Trade Association and First Solar.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During this period, the activities within the ION4RAW project have progressed according to the plan and without any significant delays.
The comprehensive by-product potential identification and assessment have been performed at this stage, achieving the related objectives fully. A compilation of geoscientific data from 1400 identified European occurrences for Cu, Au, Ag, and Pb-Zn main commodities have been conducted in order to produce an assessment and inventory of target by-products distribution in existing and currently unexploited resources from Europe. The ore sampling on five operational five sites (El Porvenir and Cerro Lindo in Peru, Cononish in Scotland, and Cobre Las Cruces and El Valle-Boinas in Spain) has been achieved. Concerning the upstream activities, the produced concentrates have been distributed to partners, and the optimization of the process is also finished. On the other hand, the downstream research has also been fruitful in assessing the solid effluents and DES treatment and valorisation procedures.
For the ionometallurgical process development, an optimized ionometallurgical route based on the results obtained in the field of DES leaching and electrodeposition has been carried out. These results are considered a base for the development of the upscaled process, where the modelling, conceptual, and basic engineering of the process are already available. The outcomes of the previous technical activities were used as a base for the DEMO prototype, whose activity is finished. For this activity, the first task was working on an upscaled experimental design that will finish with the DEMO validation in a relevant environment, achieving TRL5. Finally, a quality assessment of the recovered metals was performed to analyze how the products of the ION4RAW process could be used as commercial products. Regarding the transversal activities such as the sustainability assessment, exploitation, dissemination, and communication, their progress has also been very fruitful. The partners worked with the final results from the LCA analysis, and the market analysis and the exploitation plan are already available. There is close monitoring of the legal compliances and standardization strategies with several deliverables devoted to this topic during the lifetime of the project, and a by-product potential decision support system of the stakeholders is published on the project website. Varied and dynamic content is available from the ION4RAW website, and our social media channels and attendance at workshops and conferences are promoted. In the case of dissemination activities, several publications are ongoing, and an ION4RAW community has been created on the ZENODO platform, where public datasets and recent project publications are available.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The ION4RAW project aims to have an impact on the progress of by-product recovery activities. The replication and further commercialisation of the ION4RAW process are expected to be carried out after the project completion, contributing to enhancing the project impact in the medium to long term and setting the basis for an improved European sector, which can get the most out of its domestic resources in an effective way. In addition to the direct impact on metal exploitation and production rates, the use of the ION4RAW process will provide security of by-product supply, which will have a direct impact on all the technologies and processes that use them. This way, ION4RAW aims to position European mineral processing companies in the front line of by-product recovery technology as they will be able to use a technology that is more environmentally friendly, resource- and cost-efficient than conventional ionometallurgical processes.
The ION4RAW process is expected to be used by mining and mineral processing companies and will lead to broader and higher by-product recovery rates. Besides, the by-product potential mapping and the production of the toolkit to be used by companies will allow the identification of new unexploited resources. Additionally, thanks to the ION4RAW technology, today, unexploited resources could be transformed into reserves to be exploited by the application of the concept proposed here (as is planned for the case-study mineral processing companies).
ION4RAW process estimates a reduction in energy consumption with respect to pyro- and hydrometallurgical processes, together with low-cost, environmentally benign, non-flammable solvents (DES) instead of the use of strong acids (mainly sulphuric acid). This would lead to a healthier and safer process than a hydrometallurgical route and the reduction of both capital and operating expenditures (CAPEX and OPEX).
The ION4RAW process is expected to promote the expansion of the activities of mineral processing companies and, therefore, to create new jobs from diverse professional categories: construction workers, geologists, process engineers, plant operators, administrative staff, etc. Around a 5-10% increase in employment due to the impact of ION4RAW is expected in the long term. Besides, the dissemination plan of the project foresees the publication of 1 patent related to the project process, publications in journals with high impact factor, the creation of PhD positions during the project execution, attendance at industrial fairs, organisation of public events involving stakeholders and society, production of a video clip, brochures, internal and external newsletters, etc.

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