Imagine a mine that doesn't leave any trash behind. Instead of just digging for lithium, this method treats the rock like a treasure chest, pulling out every useful mineral and metal. The leftover stone is then turned into green building materials so nothing goes to waste.
Europe is 100% reliant on lithium imports for EV batteries despite having significant domestic deposits. These deposits remain untouched due to environmental concerns and the lack of efficient ways to process the ore without creating massive waste.
A predictive geometallurgy system and digital twins to optimize multi-metal extraction. This includes refined processes to recover lithium, rare earths, and industrial minerals from hard-rock ores.
If you are a mining operator dealing with high waste volumes and untapped minerals — this project developed a zero-waste extraction route that recovers CRMs like niobium and tantalum as by-products. This turns waste streams into new revenue sources while reducing environmental impact.
If you are a materials manufacturer dealing with high carbon footprints in production — this project developed a way to valorise industrial minerals like quartz and feldspar. These are refined into low-carbon building materials for the construction sector.
If you are a battery producer dealing with 100% reliance on lithium imports — this project developed a method to unlock Europe's 27 hard-rock deposits. This secures a domestic supply of up to 21.7 Mt Li2O to stabilize the supply chain.
The project focuses on creating cost-effective extraction routes by recovering multiple by-products. Based on available project data, the goal is to make mining more sustainable and economically viable by selling additional CRMs and industrial minerals.
The project is currently upscaling and demonstrating routes using four premier European case studies. It utilizes pilot facilities and large-scale laboratories in Finland and Australia to move toward industrial application.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not mentioned, but the project involves 16 partners including 8 industry players who are developing the predictive tools and digital twins.
It addresses the need for climate neutrality by 2050 and the European goal to reduce reliance on imported critical raw materials.
The project runs from 2023-01-01 to 2026-12-31, with current activities focused on sample preparation and pilot optimization.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward commercial application, with a 50% industry ratio (8 companies out of 16 partners). This includes 4 SMEs and major industrial players like Imerys, suggesting a strong push for market adoption. The geographic spread across 7 European countries ensures the technology is tested against diverse geological conditions in Finland, Portugal, France, and the UK.
Contact VTT Research Ltd in Finland
Contact us to connect with the EXCEED consortium for pilot integration.
