Hydrometallurgy

Historically, mining and metals industries have focused on the extraction of a single main metal which often only accounts for up to 1 percent of the processed material – in the case of gold, typically just a few grams in a ton. Side streams have been overlooked, wasting valuable materials and increasing the environmental footprint of the industry.

While combatting climate change and mining are rarely mentioned in the same sentence, critical metals – such as those used in batteries – are crucial for the electrification of transport and industries. The markets for electric vehicles and energy storage systems as well as their reuse and recycling are growing dramatically. At the same time, the easy-to-process metal ores are fading out and increasingly complex waste materials are accumulating. Especially in Europe, we are in short supply of rich ores, which means that we need to turn to sources that have lower concentrations of the desired metals. At VTT, we specialize in making this process possible and profitable.

Side streams have been overlooked, wasting valuable materials and increasing the environmental footprint of the industry.

With new technologies, minor metals and mineral residues can be retained, resulting in major steps toward more sustainable mining and metals industries, and allowing the effective recycling of high-value materials.

Our latest research focuses on new technologies to maximise the value of ores and mineral raw materials and thus having a huge impact on global material footprint. At VTT, we have deep knowhow and an excellent research infrastructure, including pilot facilities, to contribute to the latest achievements in the field and transfer technologies to solutions for our customers.

By optimising the use of energy, water, and chemicals we use hydrometallurgical methods to help our customers capture previously overlooked business opportunities while also decreasing the environmental impact of their processes. VTT’s zero waste mining concept covers all the above-mentioned aspects.

We help our customers capture previously overlooked business opportunities while also decreasing the environmental impact of their processes.

In addition to target metals, we are able to recover minor elements and create value from side streams, for example, by recovering metals from mining waste and developing technologies for utilising mineral side streams in high-value applications. Mineral side streams can be used in construction materials replacing cement, in high-temperature ceramics, and in plastics as filler material.

Metals are used in various high-tech applications, such as batteries, electronics and products and devices that combine metals with different materials. For example, a modern smartphone contains tens of various metals, which are irreplaceable but exist distributed in the structure at small amounts. However, the recycling rates for many of such metals are below one percentage.

New recycling technologies developed by VTT take into account the whole complex mixed material stream that may contain some toxic elements to be managed. We can support in both the mechanical pre-treatment of metals recycling and combine different hydrometallurgical technologies to extract valuable metals from high-tech products as well as waste incineration ashes.
The benefits of metals recycling aren’t limited to circular economy and material efficiency, but they open new opportunities for business. Through new technologies, obtaining valuable metals and minerals from low-grade sources such as recycling is becoming increasingly profitable.