Imagine trying to separate two different colors of glitter that are glued together in a messy spiderweb. Current mining tools can't do it cheaply, so we just leave the minerals in the ground. This project creates a smarter way to blast and sort the rocks so the valuable metals pop apart easily and with much less water and energy.
Europe relies on imports from China and Russia for titanium and vanadium because domestic low-grade ores are too complex to separate economically. This creates a strategic vulnerability and high carbon footprints for imported materials.
A set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for ore characterization and the design of water-lean pre-concentration flowsheets for separating ilmenite and magnetite.
If you are a mining operator dealing with complex ores that are currently too expensive to process — this project developed selective blasting and pre-concentration tools that make extraction economically viable. It targets the recovery of 154 Mt of Ti and 3.5 Mt of V across Europe.
If you are a waste management company dealing with historical mining tailings — this project developed water-lean pre-concentration technologies to recover V and Ti from waste. This allows for the profitable cleaning of old sites while extracting critical materials.
If you are a chemical processor dealing with high import dependency for raw materials — this project developed a co-extraction method for phosphorus and REEs as by-products. This creates a new domestic revenue stream alongside titanium and vanadium.
Based on available project data, the project reduces energy demand in crushing and grinding stages and lowers GHG intensity by 60–700 g CO2,eq per tonne of ore, which lowers operational costs.
The project is currently developing the approach and flowsheets; based on available project data, it aims to provide a scalable model for European reserves totaling 154 Mt Ti and 3.5 Mt V.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not mentioned, but the project involves 6 industrial partners who are co-developing the technology.
Yes, it is specifically aligned with the EU Critical Raw Materials Act to help Europe source at least 10% of its CRMs domestically.
The project period runs from 2024-01-01 to 2027-12-31, indicating that full results will be available by the end of 2027.
The consortium is well-balanced for commercialization, featuring a 46% industry ratio with 6 industrial partners and 2 SMEs. With 13 partners across 7 countries (including mining-heavy regions like Finland and Norway), the project combines academic research from KU Leuven with practical industrial application, ensuring the developed tools are grounded in real-world mining requirements.
Contact the project lead at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Contact us to connect with the AVANTIS industrial partners for early adoption of selective blasting tech.
