Imagine old mining dumps as giant piggy banks filled with valuable metals and minerals that we just forgot how to open. Instead of leaving these piles as environmental hazards, this work creates a faster way to find and extract the 'gold' hidden inside. It's like upgrading from a slow manual search to a high-speed digital scanner and mobile processing plant.
Europe relies too heavily on imported raw materials while ignoring 100,000 existing mining waste sites. Current assessment processes for these sites are too slow and recovery rates are nearly zero.
Two mobile crushing technologies, a collaborative digital platform for smart assessment, and four processing methodologies for recovering materials like fluorspar and bauxite.
If you are a facility operator dealing with massive piles of discarded tailings — this project developed a digital platform and mobile crushing tech that increases material valorisation from near 0% to 5%. This turns a liability into a revenue stream.
If you are a processor dealing with unstable supply chains for fluorspar or bauxite — this project developed four processing methodologies that secure a local European source of these critical raw materials.
If you are a remediation firm dealing with slow, costly site assessments — this project developed a 'fast-path' process that reduces assessment time by 83%. This allows for faster project turnaround and lower overhead.
Based on available project data, specific pricing or cost structures for the mobile crushing technologies and digital platform are not provided.
The project is developing two mobile crushing technologies and four processing methodologies specifically for use across Spain, Sweden, Austria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to boost recovery rates.
Based on available project data, the specific IP and licensing terms are not mentioned, though the goal is to establish a standard for sustainable assessment aligned with the CRM Act.
The project runs from 2024-10-01 to 2028-09-30, with the aim for the new process to become the industry standard by 2030.
The project is specifically designed to align with the EU Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act to ensure responsible supply and sustainable assessment.
The consortium is heavily industry-weighted with 12 industrial partners (55% ratio), including 5 SMEs. This strong commercial presence, combined with 3 universities and 3 research centers across 9 countries, suggests the project is driven by market needs rather than pure academic curiosity, ensuring the resulting tools are practical for real-world mining environments.
Contact ASOCIACION NACIONAL DE EMPRESARIOS FABRICANTES DE ARIDOS in Spain
Contact us to connect with the SCIMIN-CRM consortium for early adoption of the digital assessment platform.
