METALLICO Blog
Welcome to the METALLICO Blog! Check out the articles and stay up to date.
IDENER: 1st METALLICO Review Meeting - A Milestone in Sustainable Metal Recovery
December 2, 2024
On 17 September 2024, the project's first Review Meeting was held at the facilities of METALLICO partner Fraunhofer IKTS in Freiberg, Germany. For our second newsletter, our coordinator IDENER has written a report on how they experienced the meeting.
COOl+ Process: Lithium Carbonate Production in Battery Grade
December 2, 2024
TU Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), in collaboration with Fraunhofer IKTS, has successfully validated a process for recovering lithium from primary sources, demonstrating efficacy not only in laboratory but also at a pilot scale. The selective recovery of lithium from spodumene ore is achieved through the innovative COOL+ process.
The Products of the CoNi Process: Copper and Cobalt-Nickel Concentrates
December 2, 2024
The CoNi process is carried out by the Łukasiewicz-IMN as a part of the Metallico project. This process concerns the recovery of metals such as copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni) from the iron-arsenic (Fe-As) waste alloy originating from the pyrometallurgical production process of lead. As part of the research, tests were carried out on the leaching of the Fe-As alloy, precipitation of iron (Fe) and arsenic (As) in the form of scorodite, and removal of the remaining amount of Fe and As.
The Progress of the TAILCO Process
December 2, 2024
The TAILCO process aims to valorise secondary cobalt resources produced in the hydrometallurgical plant of Cobre Las Cruces (CLC). To this goal, TAILCO works on the development and implementation of a new technology to valorise cobalt and zinc contained in the raffinate generated in the CLC industrial plant after copper recovery.
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The Progress of the PURGES Process
December 2, 2024
The PURGES process is an innovative approach to transforming industrial waste into valuable resources. Originally developed to provide a new use for waste from Cobre Las Cruces—a mining and hydrometallurgical complex in southern Spain known for producing high-purity copper—this process focuses on recovering cobalt, a crucial element for modern technologies like batteries.
Scaling Up the METALLICO Project: From Laboratory Validation to Engineering Design
December 2, 2024
The METALLICO project is entering an exciting phase as we transition from laboratory-scale validation to the critical task of scaling up. After successfully validating and finetuned the five processes for battery metals recovery at the lab-scale, IDENER has now focused on moving toward pilot-scale operations, which is a key step of this project. This transition is guided by the engineering activities (which are supported by the modelling activities) led by IDENER with the support of other technical partners.
Meet the Partners: DECHEMA e.V.
October 29, 2024
As the leader for the work package on communication, dissemination and exploitation, DECHEMA e.V. has several tasks in the project. In brief, they want to make the project visible! How do they do that? What are their next steps? Learn more in our interview!
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Meet the Partners: Radical Innovations Group
September 27, 2024
In METALLICO, Radical Innovations Group AB (RIG) is involved in two Work Packages (WPs): WP5 and WP7. Read in our article not only what their tasks in these Work Packages are, but also why they think that METALLICO has an impact on various aspects of daily life.
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Meet the Partners: Tharsis Mining
September 3, 2024
Tharsis Mining’s major duties in the METALLICO project are related to the COMAN process. Read in our interview what exactly they are doing, what the COMAN process is about and why our partners from Tharsis Mining think the METALLICO project so important for the EU.
Meet the Partners: TU Bergakademie Freiberg
August 27, 2024
In METALLICO, TU Bergakademie Freiberg is responsible to optimize the COOL+ process on a laboratory scale. The COOL+ process allows the recovery of lithium carbonate from lithium-containing primary raw materials as well as the production of geopolymers from the residues, thus achieving a holistic utilization. How does that work? And what are the next steps? Read the whole interview!
IDENER: "We have the opportunity to demonstrate to society that the production of metals in a sustainable way is possible"
February 20, 2024
What is the role of IDENER, the coordinator of METALLICO, in the project? What are the next steps for the project, and what is so special about it? We talked with María Gonzalez-Moya Jimenez and Ana Lara Quijano from IDENER.
LARCO: Future Trends in World Nickel Production and Consumption
February 20, 2024
In the last years, the increasing demand for nickel resulted in an enormouse increase in its production. Read this article from LARCO to learn more about future trends for the production and consumption of nickel.
CETAQUA: Building Connections for Lithium Supply
February 20, 2024
To identify potential lithium resources beyond Europe for the project, CETAQUA Chile and CETAQUA Barcelona have actively engaged in events linked to the recovery of mining resources during the summer 2023. Read more about these events and CETAQUA's role in the project.
Tharsis Mining: Contributing to a circular economy through revalorization of mining waste
February 20, 2024
In a world where the development of an environmentally friendly and sustainable economic system has become increasingly important in recent decades, waste reuse is one of the key points to achieve this goal. For that purpose, Tharsis Mining has carried out a physical and chemical characterization of mine waste.
Meet the Partners: LARCO
January 24, 2024
In METALLICO, LARCO provides the other partners with laterites and rotary kiln. With that, they are able to investigate the possibility to extract nickel and cobalt or other possible elements in a suitable form for the construction of batteries. Further, they are participating in the development of digital tools. Read in the interview what other tasks they have and why they think METALLICO is so important.
Meet the Partners: CETAQUA
January 17, 2024
Together with other METALLICO partners, CETAQUA is involved in the laboratory-scale testing and pilot-scale testing for both the TAILCO and PURGES processes. Additionally, they operate the pilot-scale process for the COOL+ process. But that is not all! What else do they work on and what are their next steps? Read more in the interview!
M12 Meeting in Barcelona
January 12, 2024
It's almost one year since we first met for the kick-off meeting of METALLICO. In this year, a lot has happened. on 13 and 14 December, 2023, we met in Barcelona at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya to present the work done so far and to discuss the next steps.
Meet the Partners: Cemetos La Cruz
October 10, 2023
In METALLICO, Cementos La Cruz will validate the use of lithium carbonate and the mining waste valorization in the cement industry. Read more about how they will use mining waste and lithium carbonate to develop new cementitious materials with a low carbon footprint in our interview!
Meet the Partners: G.E.O.S. Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH
September 21, 2023
G.E.O.S. accompanies the optimisation of the COOL+ Process which is developed to hydrometallurgically extract lithium from ores. Read the interview to learn more about this task, how METALLICO helps to replace a "not in my backyard" mindset with increased raw material awareness in the public and why this is so important for the European Union's goals for a transition to a green and digital world.
Meet the Partners: Fraunhofer IKTS
September 13, 2023
The task of Fraunhofer IKTS in METALLICO is to validate the COOL+ process, one of the five processes developed and optimized in the project. The aim of the process is not only to recover lithium, but also to produce geopolymers from the solid residue that can be used as sustainable construction material. How are they going to reach their goals? Read the whole interview!
Meet the Partners: At Clave
September 4, 2023
In METALLICO, At Clave is responsible for the project's stakeholder engagement, social participation and networking activities. They are also in charge of improving governance instruments. To reach their aims, At Clave will combine different activities and create innovative tools for public awareness creation and participation. Read the whole interview to find out more about their work and why they think it is so important that METALLICO also considers social implications.
Meet the Partners: Łukasiewicz-IMN
August 10, 2023
The main task of Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals (Łukasiewicz-IMN) is to prepare the upscaling of the CONI process to valorise secondary resources from lead (Pb) hydrometallurgical processes. They are also working on the construction, start-up, and operation of the pilot plant for the CONI process. Find out what other tasks they have, what their goals are, and why they think METALLICO is so important.
Meet the Partners: VTT
August 3, 2023
VTT, a research institution owned by the finnish state, will take part in optimizing and upscaling the hydrometallurgical process steps for the COMAN process, in which critical metals such as cobalt and manganese will be recovered from mine tailings. Learn more about the tasks and goals of VTT in the interview!
Meet the Partners: Cobres Las Cruces
July 27, 2023
Cobre Las Cruces, the mining-hydrometallurgical complex located in Seville province (Spain), is mainly involved in the TAILCO process which is devoted to recover cobalt from copper hydrometallurgical industry tailings treatment. One of their tasks is to develop a lab fine-tuning and an intermediate scale validation for the process. Read more about their work in the TAILCO process and why it is so important.
Meet the Partners: IDENER
July 20, 2023
IDENER is the coordinator of the project and has several tasks: In addition to the overall project coordination, they are also modelling and optimising the processing stages of each case study and are responsible for the the engineering and digitalisation of processes. Read more about their tasks, aims and motives in the interview!