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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - METGROW PLUS (Metal Recovery from Low Grade Ores and Wastes Plus)

Teaser

Summary

METGROW+ addresses and solves bottlenecks in the European raw materials supply by developing innovative metallurgical technologies for unlocking the use of potential domestic raw materials. Both primary and secondary materials are studied as potential metal resources. Economically important nickel-cobalt deposits and low grade polymetallic wastes, iron containing sludges (goethite, jarosite etc.) which are currently not yet being exploited due to technical bottlenecks, are in focus. Concurrently, METGROW+ targets innovative hydrometallurgical processes to extract important metals including Ni, Cu, Zn, Co, In, Ga, Ge from low grade ores in a cost-effective way. In addition a toolbox for metallurgical system is created in the project using new methods and combinations.

The primary objective of METGROW+ is to create, demonstrate and validate an industrially viable and flexible New Metallurgical Systems Toolbox, which allows to smartly combine pyro-, hydro-, electro-, bio-, solvo and ionometallurgical unit operations, as well as all residual matrix valorisation technologies, to valorise EUâ€™s low-grade, polymetallic primary and secondary resources. The toolbox allows producing innovative, systems based, metallurgical solutions to recover metals and to valorise the residual matrix, while minimising energy consumption and the overall environmental footprint.
The toolbox consists of a broad range of already existing and newly developed metallurgical unit operations. The unit operations follow a value-chain approach, from pre-treatment, to metal extraction, metal recovery and (residual) matrix valorisation. The industrially-driven, interdisciplinary METGROW+ consortium involves all relevant stakeholders along the value chain, from the (upstream) pretreatment to the final (downstream) residual matrix valorisation in building materials.

The novelty of METGROW+ is twofold:
(1) The systems approach (toolbox) to couple the individual unit operations, so as to obtain the most cost-effective and environmentally-friendly flow sheet for a given low-grade resource,
(2) The development of several new metallurgical unit operations (incl. bio-, solvo- and plasma operations). METGROW+ demonstrates and validates the New Metallurgical Systems Toolbox for a multitude of low-grade resources in the EU-28.

The use and replication of the main output of METGROW+, i.e. the METGROW+ toolbox, boosts the European mineral extractive and processing industry since it triggers the cost-effective exploitation of Europeâ€™s domestic low-grade primary and secondary resources.

Work performed

At this stage of the project after 1,5 years, the selected materials have been sampled, characterized, and various pre-treatment and metal extraction methods have been studied for their treatment. Pre-treatment studies of some of the materials provided promising results. Based on ongoing leaching experiments, the objective of high yields (>90%) will be fulfilled with all sample materials from the chemical point of view. To develop economically and environmentally viable processes, objectives of high selectivity and flexibility will be further studied. In addition, the recovery of metals from dilute and concentrated solutions has been started.
Technical specifications of the framework for the implementation of the two versions of the toolbox, namely one Public version and one Private version for project partners, has started. A technology map has been done and decision framework for various assessments has been decided. The first iteration of the LCA-RA-TEA assessment of processes is on-going based on data from the questionnaires filled by consortium members for various unit processes.

The project has proceeded as planned with very ambitios aims. It is important to not underestimate the challenges when integrating the distinct metallurgical unit operations into workable flow sheets for the specific waste materials and low-grade laterites.

Final results

METGROW+ develops pyro-, hydro-, electro-, bio-, solvo and ionometallurgical unit operations, as well as residual matrix valorisation technologies, to valorise EUâ€™s low-grade, polymetallic primary and secondary resources. Pretreatment metallurgical unit operations are adapted to make them applicable for low-grade complex polymetallic, primary and secondary resources. New metallurgical unit operations for metal extraction are developed, with a focus on economically important (Ni, Co, Zn, Cu, Fe) and critical metals (In, Ga, Ge, Cr, Sb and Co). The new unit operations are: â€œhydroflexâ€, bioleaching, solvoleaching and â€œplasma-pyroâ€. New metallurgical unit operations are further improved and/or developed for metal recovery from the preceding metal extraction step. The metal recovery approaches are: physicochemical separation (including supported liquid membranes and Supported Ionic Liquid Phases), biosorption and â€“precipitation, and electrowinning. Unit operations for residual matrix valorisation are further improved and/or developed as a basis for downstream activities. Specifically, technologies for supplementary cementitious materials, and inorganic polymers (geopolymers) are developed and tailored for low-grade resources in order to respect a zero-waste approach. The created New Metallurgical Systems Toolbox is validated, combining different metallurgical unit operations for a given low-grade resource type, through pilot activities conducted at the METGROW+ partner facilities. The pilots are performed for the selected low-grade primary and secondary resources families: laterites (at Outotec and IMN), Fe-rich sludges (at Tecnalia and Outotec), Fine-grained Cr-rich sludges (at JMR), fayalite (at Tecnalia).

The use and replication of the main output of METGROW+, i.e. the METGROW+ toolbox, boosts the European mineral extractive and processing industry since it triggers the cost-effective exploitation of Europeâ€™s domestic low-grade primary and secondary resources. The toolbox provides a feasible, sustainable, cost-effective set of processes, ranging from upstream activities to downstream activities.

Aside from sources selected in the project, the METGROW+ toolbox has been conceived so as to be able to provide a processing solution for other low-grade sources. These include freshly produced and landfilled streams of other metallurgical slags, complex polymetallic ores, incineration ashes or dusts, several types of tailings etc., i.e. covering a wide range of materials whose potential is not being currently used yet by Europe.

In addition to the direct impact in metal exploitation and production rates, the use of the METGROW+ toolbox has a cross-sectorial impact in the metal-related European industry, since it produces a set of process steps that cover the value chain. Hence, other stakeholders will benefit from the wide deployment of the toolbox. Moreover, METGROW+ is aimed to make a contribution to European raw material sector at a transversal level. Since the toolbox addresses technological, environmental, economic and social assessment, different levels of the European scenario can benefit from the information provided by the tool: public bodies can retrieve information for policy making and about social impact (policy level), companies can be aware of best approaches for sources exploitation (market/business model level), whereas the community can learn about new trends and technology performance (technological level).