Project duration: 1 January 2021 – 31 December 2023

Objective

RFC-Upscaling proposes the Reflux Flotation Cell (RFC) technology for mineral processing companies, with ROI in 3 – 4 years. Within the project, it is planned to commercialise the technology as a new product of FLSmidth for copper and iron ore. The RFC requires 30 % less capex and 20 % less opex compared to the existing flotation technologies. The new design allows higher throughputs, a broader particle size distribution and recovery of finer particles.

The solution (technology)

Mineral-bearing ores are mined and processed on a large scale. During the processing, the rocks are milled and crushed into much smaller particles that contain the mineral fractions in a certain concentration. Milling yields particles with valuable mineral components as well as a waste fraction with gangue particles. These need to be separated from each other for further processing of the valuable, mineral-bearing fraction – where the gangue fraction that is currently of no economic value is discarded in tailings. The key technology for the valuable-gangue particle separation in the process chain is flotation. In large tanks that are mostly operated in series, air bubbles rise from the bottom to the top. If the chemical milieu is appropriate, hydrophobic particles (e.g. copper sulfide) attach to these rising air bubbles and form a froth layer at the top, which is constantly removed. Hydrophillic particles (e.g. silica) sink and leave the tank with the liquid at the bottom. The performance in terms of throughput of current technologies is limited in two ways: on the one hand through gas bubbles that leave the tank at the bottom, and on the other hand through too much liquid that leaves the tank together with the froth at the top. The novel Reflux Flotation Cell (RFC) technology avoids both problems with an entirely new internal design which results in much higher throughputs whilst simultaneously separating smaller particles in a more efficient method that improves gas bubble control. Consequently, flotation cells can be much smaller for given separation tasks and/or a much lower number of tanks are needed to operate in series (one or two tanks only). The RFC has been successfully demonstrated at TRL 5 at FLSmidth A/S, (DK) together with KGHM (PL) for copper ore particles, where ore samples have been shipped to the lab facilities of FLSmidth for testing. The preliminary results from the pilot-scale studies indicate that the RFC technology can help mines to save up to 30 % capital investments and use 20 % less water and energy. Within the project, the RFC technology will be scaled up to TRL 7 – 8 (depending on the application) and demonstrated in the field at a copper ore mine (KGHM) and at an iron ore mine at LKAB. It is our goal to commercialise the RFC technology during the three-year project through sales of full-scale plants at TRL 9, for example, with our partners KGHM, PL and LKAB, SE. This will take place if the demonstrations prove that a return on investment is possible in 3 – 5 years and that environmental impacts are lowered.

Partnership

• Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V. (HZDR), Germany
• IVL Swedish Environmental Research lnstitute, Sweden
• KGHM Polska Miedz Spólka Akcyjna, Poland
• Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB), Sweden
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway
• FLSmidth & Co. A/S (Lead Partner), Denmark

Project duration: 1 April 2016 – 31 December 2018

Objective

The main objective of the project is to come up with a solution for recovery of critical metals, such as indium and germanium, and increase production of base metals, i.e. tin, from polymetallic alloys formed in the production of zinc and lead.

The solution (technology)

Partnership

• Instytut Metali Niezelaznych, IMN (Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals), Poland (Lead Partner)
• Huta Cynku Miasteczko Śląskie S.A., Poland
• Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), Germany
• Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. VTT), Finland

Project duration: 1 January 2019 – 31 December 2021

Objective

Although the EU Commission promotes boosting resource efficiency and recycling, the European economy loses a significant amount of potential secondary raw materials. Huge amounts of various Al-rich residues (steel slags, red mud, ashes, landfills of bauxite mines) with low recycling rate or landfilled in RIS countries present high secondary mineral resources potential. A promising way of recycling these waste mineral materials is the synthesis of sustainable mineral binders with high Al content, which can be further used as environment-friendly construction material. On the other hand, high Al content is the main pain point for the production of Al-rich mineral binders, according to the high need of valuable natural resource bauxite.

The solution (technology)

RIS-ALiCE plans to overcome this challenge by the replacement of bauxite with Al-rich industrial and mine residues. Moreover, this approach will represent an innovative recycling case study for the ESEE region. The main outcomes of the project are an establishment of the long-term active network between the producers and the end-users of Al-rich industrial residues; valorization of Al-rich residues by production of environmentally friendly high-Al mineral binders on data from Slovenia, Hungary and BIH, knowledge transfer from Slovenia, Hungary and BIH to the whole ESEE region, and a contribution to the implementation of circular economy and zero-waste management for Al-rich industrial waste in ESEE regions.

Partnership

• Zavod za gradbenistvo Slovenije, ZAG (Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute), Slovenia (Lead Partner)
• Bay Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research, Hungary
• Cementarnica USJE AD, Macedonia
• Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), France
• Geological Survey of Slovenia, GeoZS, Slovenia
• JSC ELEM, Macedonia
• Lucis d.o.o., Slovenia
• Magyarmet (MAGY), Hungary
• Salonit Anhovo d.d., Slovenia
• SIJ ACRONI d.o.o., Slovenia
• Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant, Ltd., Slovenia
• Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Macedonia
• Technische Universitaet Wien (Vienna University of Technology), Austria
• University of Belgrade, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Serbia
• University of Zenica, Metallurgical institute Kemal Kapetanović, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Project duration: 1 January 2019 – 31 December 2021

Objective

Although mining and processing tailings can present a substantial risk to the environment, on the other hand, they represent valuable sources of secondary and in particular critical raw materials. Serbia and FYR Macedonia have an abundance of Cu mines which have been exploited since ancient times. These activities generated about 920 M tonnes of different types of mining, floatation and metallurgical tailings, containing approximately 1.3 M tonnes of Cu, 128 tonnes of Ag and 23 tonnes of Au, which presents a valuable resource for the European raw materials market sector.

The solution (technology)

The activities of the RIS‐CuRE project are based on an innovation model merging all relevant stakeholders within the knowledge triangle in the field of industry, research, and education in order to increase regional competitiveness based on a regional scale, taking into account the latest know‐how of the RIS‐CuRE consortium. This innovative approach is based on the zero waste paradigm, which means that, once valuable raw materials such as CRM and other metals are extracted, the residues can be recycled for the construction sector. Such a holistic eco‐innovative approach to the extraction of valuable metals and the beneficial use of residues after the extraction of metals provides a guarantee for the successful development of a regional innovation scheme based on the exploitation of tailings, and is, from the economic, organizational, technological, environmental and social points of view, the most viable option. This will lead to the development of an encouraging environment for the boosting entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship in the region, based on the exploration of secondary deposits. The final output of the project will be a strong sustained regional network, based on validated and fact‐based data, including a study of the potential economic, technological, organisational (legislative), environmental and social impacts of applying the innovative methodology of the zero waste extraction of valuable materials in Serbia and the FYR of Macedonia.

Partnership

• Zavod za gradbenistvo Slovenije, ZAG (Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute), Slovenia (Lead Partner)
• Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Serbia
• Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vratsa, Bulgaria
• Civil Engineering Institute Macedonia, Macedonia
• DPTU BUCHIM DOO, Radovish, Limited trade company for production, trade and service, Macedonia
• Ekolive, Slovakia
• ELEM Macedonian Power Plants, Macedonia
• Geological Survey of Slovenia, GeoZS, Slovenia
• Goce Delcev University Štip, Macedonia
• Gomez Pardo Foundation, Spain
• IRGO Consulting, Slovenia
• Mining and Smelting Combine Bor, Serbia
• Outotec (Finland) Oy, Finland
• University of Belgrade, Technical Faculty in Bor, Serbia
• University of Petrosani, Romania

Project duration: 1.1.2022 – 31.12.2024

Objective:

The project aims to increase students’ entrepreneurship/business skills, broaden University-Business Cooperation in the RIS region, support EIT-labelled MSc-s and boost employment of the RM graduates leveraging regional brain-drain. 21 matchmaking events will be organized, 367 students will conduct an internship in 300 hosting organizations, 640 individuals will complete online training and 25-40 interns will be employed at the hosting organizations.

The solution (technology):

Public Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the RIS region and especially in West Balkan often found difficult to fund internship programmes for their students, therefore within many raw material programmes internship is rated as an extracurricular activity or it is included in the curricula with minimal involvement of the HEI (for example Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia). Although European partner countries benefit from the Erasmus+ Internship programme, raw materials students without receiving structured support in their search for a hosting company/institution within Europe, have low chances to succeed in Internship applications compared to other sectors. Lack of structure within the implementation of internship decreases its positive impact, thus disabling a smooth transfer of entrepreneurial/business skills and leaving both student and hosting organisation unsure of the expectations, optimal work organisation, workload, structure and objectives of their collaboration. RIS Internship project will address this regional challenge and introduce structured internship mobilities for the benefit of the raw materials students and the organisations of the ESEE region. The project is based on the successful ADRIA Internship1 programme, run by the Regional Centre ADRIA for three years for the benefit of the West Balkan countries.

The territorial coverage of the project will increase from West Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia) towards the whole East European RIS region, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, already in 2022. During the project, about 367 students will conduct an internship in 300 companies. At the current rate of employment of 10% for the interns participating in the programme, we estimate that about 40 students will remain employed in the industry after their graduation. Train-the-trainer activities focused on 270 industry supervisors will additionally increase the entrepreneurship/business skills of the interns and broaden University-Business Cooperation (UBC) activities. The project will encourage the employment of the RM graduates in the local industry and leverage brain drain in the ESEE region.
RIS internship will explore synergy with EIT RM-labelled master programmes. A number of months will be allocated for obligatory internship experience for the students of the EIT RM programmes EMerald2 and SINReM3, AMIR4 and a number of students from the RIS region are going to be recruited for a semester mobility toward Emerald, SINReM, or AMIR. That way RIS Internship programme will strengthen labeled master programmes and increase the number of RIS students

Partners:

• University of Zagreb – Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering (UNIZG-RGNF), Croatia (Lead Partner)
• Zavod za gradbenistvo Slovenije, ZAG (Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute), Slovenia
• University of Miskolc, Hungary
• Université de Liège, Belgium
• Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), Germany
• Technical University of Kosice, Slovakia
• Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
• Politechnika Wroclawska (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, WUST), Poland
• National Technical University of Athens – NTUA, Greece

Find out more on the official project website. 

01 January 2018 – 31 March 2021

Objective

Due to their quantity and composition, mining tailings and metallurgical heaps can pose a substantial risk to the environment, while on the other hand representing valuable sources of secondary raw materials, including critical raw materials.

South East Europe, including Macedonia, is rich in deposits of secondary raw materials in the form of mining tailings of polymetallic ores and heaps from the metallurgical industry (e.g. landfills of metallurgical slags) and as such represent a relatively undiscovered potential for the European raw materials market sector.

The RIS-RECOVER project activities are based on a quintuple innovation helix approach merging industry, research/education, government, the general public and environment sectors in order to increase regional competitiveness based on a regional background and the latest know-how of the RIS-RECOVER consortium. The innovative approach is based on the zero waste paradigm, which means that, once valuable raw materials like CRM and metals are extracted, the residues can be recycled for the construction sector. Such holistic eco-innovative approach of the extraction of critical raw materials and other metals and the beneficial use of residues from old environmental burdens provide a guarantee for the development of regional innovation scheme which is based on the optimal positioning of the management of old landfills and is the most viable from the economic, organizational, technological, environmental and social point of view.

The solution (technology)

The final output of the project will be a regional innovation scheme based on validated and fact-based data including a study of the potential economic, technological, organizational (legislative), environmental and social impacts of applying the innovative methodology of zero waste extraction of valuable materials in Macedonia. Once this will be developed it will be easy to transfer the validated approach to other parts of South Eastern Europe with similar geological, social, and economic background, as well as to other parts of Europe which will create a ripple effect of creating more sustainable mining and processing of primary and secondary raw materials in Europe and globally.

Partnership

• Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG), Slovenia (Lead partner)
• Civil Engineering Institute Macedonia, Macedonia
• Geological Survey of Slovenia, (GeoZS), Slovenia
• Goce Delcev University Štip, Macedonia
• Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria
• Flemish Institute for Technological Research NV (VITO), Belgium

Project duration: 1 January 2020 – 31 December 2022

Objective

The project aims at establishing a self-sustaining network of stakeholders, who are interested in the reprocessing of red mud tailings in the ESEE region and the extraction of heavy minerals which contain valuable metals (REE, Sc, Y, Hf, Zr, and Ti). The estimated quantity of red mud in the region is more than 85 M tonnes. 5 tailings in 4 countries will be examined, and the existing BAT for the extraction of heavy minerals will be evaluated.

The solution (technology)

Red mud (BRM) is a hazardous solid caustic waste formed after the digestion of bauxite ore with sodium hydroxide in Bayer’s process for the extraction of alumina. More than 85 M tonnes of red mud from past metallurgical activities have been landfilled in the countries of the Western Balkans, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Hungary. These tailings contain substantial quantities of heavy minerals containing REE, Sc, Y, Zr, Hf, and Ti. The main objective of the proposal is to establish a self-sustaining network of Al value chain stakeholders, including potential users of extracted heavy minerals concentrates and potential users of recycling residues in building sector, within whose scope the zero waste extraction of valuable metals from red mud tailings would be established and optimised. Secondly, the project will evaluate the already existing Best Available Technology for gravitational and magnetic separation (which was originally developed for the extraction of heavy minerals out of different types of ores), and could be used for the extraction of heavy minerals from red mud. The activities will cover a large area of RIS ESSE eligible countries (i.e. Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, FYR Macedonia, and Greece).

It is expected that the establishment of such a self-sustained network of stakeholders along Al value chain will increase the competitiveness of regional value chains, from the prospecting of red mud tailings and the extraction of valuable raw materials in different targeted markets to environmentally-orientated technologies and the construction sector. Besides achieving increased competitiveness of the RIS region, the project will determine the stocks of REE, Sc, Y, Zr, Hf, and Ti in red mud tailings in the ESEE region, which is expected to significantly strengthen Europe’s independence from the import of raw materials by opening up new European secondary mining regions containing critical and other valuable raw materials.

Partnership

• Alumina doo, Bosnia And Herzegovina
• Bay Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research, Hungary
• Envirotis, Hungary
• Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology, University of Montenegro, Montenegro
• Faculty of Technology Novi Sad (TFNS), Serbia
• Geological Survey of Montenegro (GSM), Montenegro
• Geological Survey of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia And Herzegovina
• Gravity Mining Limited, United Kingdom
• Metso Minerals Oy, Finland
• MYTILINEOS S.A., Greece
• National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece
• Nemetali doo, Republic North Macedonia
• Vienna University of Technology, Austria
• TH Mining AG, Switzerland
• University of Banja Luka (UNiBL), Bosnia and Herzegovina
• University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
• University Of Tuzla, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Civil Engineering, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• University of Zagreb – Faculty of Science (UNIZG – PMF), Croatia
• WEG Kolektor doo Berane, Montenegro
• Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (Lead Partner), Slovenia

Objective

EIT RM High-Level Professional School will provide a course programme which is far beyond state of the art. World leading specialists will teach their experience, knowledge and insights to the participants. The courses will reach beyond textbook knowledge — the content will include the latest results, findings and theoretical approaches which have a high potential for innovation by implementation and therefore probably will be in the text books of the next generation. The programme will bridge the gap between scientific discussion and university teaching because the conversion speed from new knowledge and theories to academic teaching or commercial education is now too slow. The programme aims at both internal members of the KIC as well as the staff of all other entities active in the resources business — technical fellows, group and department leaders in production and R&D, specialised sales engineers, as well as managers in middle and upper management.

The solution (technology)

The start-up phase of this high-level professional school develops a qualitative evaluation system, which evaluates and identifies potential training topics and teachers. The operational phase will start with some pilot courses end of 2016 and the first official courses will be available in 2017. Through a continuous growth in the upcoming years it will form clusters of courses from which a distance learning Master programme can be developed.

Partnership

• TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany (Lead Partner)
• Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland
• University of Limerick, Ireland
• BASF SE
• OCAS N.V.
• KGHM ZANAM S.A.
• DMT GmbH & Co. KG
• Helmholtz- Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF)
• The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
• Instytut Metali Niezelaznych (Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, IMN)
• Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)
• Geological Institute of Romania
• ASTER S. Cons. P.A.
• Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (ENEA)

Programme Co-ordinator: Daniel Berger, daniel.berger@mvtat.tu-freiberg.de