Recovery of Tungsten, Niobium and Tantalum occurring as by-products in mining and processing waste streams (TARANTULA)
Forskningsprojekt, 2019 – 2023

The extraordinary properties of refractory metals, the unlikeliness of their future substitution and their use in booming industries will sustain a high EU demand for tungsten (W), niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta). Despite all three being classified as Critical Raw Materials (CRM) by the European Commission (EC), fractions of these indispensable metals are dissipated as by-products in mining waste streams as well as process scrap. To stimulate their recovery from such complex, low-grade resources, TARANTULA will develop a suite of cost-effective, scalable and eco-friendly – bio-, hydro-, iono-, solvo-, pyro- and electro-metallurgical – processes with high selectivity and recovery rates. These novel technologies, each representing an alternative for one or more process steps of state-of-the-art (SoA) processing lines, will form new routes towards market-ready metals, metal oxides and metal carbides. Flexibility will be the cornerstone of the overall process flowsheet to enable recovery of all three elements (W, Nb, Ta), thereby minimising the CAPEX required for future processing installations. Following systematic research and innovation activities at lab scale, the envisioned technologies will be brought to TRL3-5 and, based on performance, validated at prototype level by experienced industrial partners. In parallel, future by-product recovery will be supported by carrying out a comprehensive identification and assessment of existing un/underexploited secondary sources of W, Nb and Ta. The generated information – in compliance with all pertinent laws and regulations - will feed into the Raw Materials Information System (RMIS) which will boost the impact of the project far beyond the current consortium. Finally, TARANTULA will blueprint tailored Communication, Dissemination and Civil Society Engagement strategies with respect to obtaining and maintaining the “Social License to Operate” for future heavy-duty metallurgical processing.

Deltagare

Mark Foreman (kontakt)

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Energi och material

Samarbetspartners

Centre international d'étude de tantale et niobium

Lasne, Belgium

CRONIMET Holding GmbH

Karlsruhe, Germany

E-Mines

Dun, France

Fundación ICAMCyL

Armunia (León), Spain

Inerco

Sevilla, Spain

KU Leuven

Leuven, Belgium

Optimizacion Orientada a la Sostenibilidad sl

Sevilla, Spain

PNO Consultants

Zaventem, Belgium

Saloro

Salamanca, Spain

Sidenor Investigación y Desarrollo S.A.

Basauri, Spain

SINTEF AS

Porsgrunn, Norway

Strategic Minerals Spain

Madrid, Spain

Universite de Liège

Liege, Belgium

Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO)

Mol, Belgium

Finansiering

Europeiska kommissionen (EU)

Projekt-id: EC/H2020/821159
Finansierar Chalmers deltagande under 2019–2023

Publikationer

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2021-01-07