Marking the project’s first anniversary, the LiCORNE partners gathered in sunny city of Athens to draw the line and brief on the progress achieved thus far. The meeting was hosted by the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and it unfolded over two days, including also a visit of the NTUA mineralogical museum and its metallurgy laboratory facilities.
Press the “play” button below to watch snippets of the 1-year consortium meeting and interviews with various partners
Starting with work package (WP) 2, partners from EnBW presented the characteristics of the Bruchsal geothermal reservoir, located at the eastern edge of Upper Rhine Valley. EnBW highlighted that geothermal brines in the Upper Rhine Valley are recognised for their relatively high lithium (Li) concentrations. Additionally, the region displays an extension structure striking in the NNE-SSW direction, with a length of around 300 km and a width of up to 40 km. In this area, the deep geothermal fluids utilised for geothermal applications exhibit a maximum Li concentration ranging from 163 to 190 mg/L (Sanjuan et al., 2016). The highest Li concentration was detected in the hydrothermal alteration zone of Lower Buntsandstein.
In the forthcoming months, new samples are prepared for delivery to research partners: geothermal and continental brines, but also Li-phosphate samples, a new Li-mica concentrate and synthetic brine solutions. Upcoming research will mainly focus on the geochemical analysis of rock samples from the reservoirs.
In the mining industry or extractive metallurgy, beneficiation is any process which removes the gangue minerals from ore to produce a higher-grade product, and a waste stream – which, despite the lack of valuable materials, needs to be sustainably treated. In charge of the beneficiation step, TU Delft already presented in M12 videos of the operational opto-magnetically-induced sorting lab setup to process crushed spodumene ore. This proof of concept aims to separate the Li-rich fractions of the ore before reaching the metallurgical processes. This preliminary step helps improve efficiencies and decrease cost in processes downstream.
Researchers at NTUA, working on the development of a calcination technology working at lower temperatures, presented the first results of their investigations using various additive combinations and leaching experiments studying the effect of temperature, time and leaching agents. Tests showed that the use of additives has the potential to maintain the calcination operating temperature of spodumene at low temperatures compared to conventional routes. Moreover, researchers achieved over 92% Li extraction during various leaching experiments conducted so far. Recognising the environmental footprint associated with the conventional routes used for Li extraction, NTUA research team will continue experimenting with new additives in order to develop a new technology that is more environmentally sustainable and equally more competitive.
Working with spodumene samples, TECNALIA researchers have been working on the ball milling-assisted chemical transformation, testing the use of various additives and experimenting with different thermal treatments. Their upcoming work will focus on optimising the ball milling process to obtain materials with similar leaching properties but being produced with less intense thermal processes.
Read the next article for a complete overview of all the work packages.
Late September 2023, ministers, industry leaders, investors, international organisations and civil society convened at IEA (International Energy Agency) headquarters for first-of-its-kind summit to discuss the future of critical minerals.
Being the first international IEA Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Summit, the event applauded governments’ enthusiasm to deploy the clean energy transition, as well as their quick actions to ensure secure and sustainable supplies of critical minerals. With a concerning scenario portraying surging demand of minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper, driven by the deployment of clean energy technologies, the first international summit identified six key actions to ensure secure, sustainable and reliable supplies of critical materials:
The majority of these strategic actions are already included in the core of the LiCORNE project. Launched in October 2022, LiCORNE is designed to establish the first European Lithium complete supply chain. Its main objective is to increase the processing and the refining capacity for battery-grade chemicals from resources available in Europe: ores, brines, tailings and off-specification battery cathode materials (waste).
With increased interest for this first international summit, the IEA will hold a Ministerial Meeting next year, in February, which will provide countries with a platform to evaluate the significance of critical minerals in the global energy security and climate action. Based on shared experiences and information, the event will emphasise transparent and resilient supply chain strategies, and unveil the next phase of the IEA Voluntary Critical Mineral Security Programme.
Photo © IEA
Between 14 and 18 November 2022, the European Commission organised the 7th edition of the Raw Materials Week gathering a wide range of stakeholders discussing policies but also relevant alternatives in the field of raw materials. This was an opportune occasion for the LiCORNE project to cluster with seven other EU-funded projects at the event “Production of raw materials for batteries from European sources”. The objective of the workshop was to create an environment that could foster knowledge exchange on different approaches for the recycling and recovery for battery applications. Co-organised by CROCODILE, RHINOCEROS and LICORNE, with the participation of the EU funded projects BATRAW, RESPECT, RELiEF, FREE4LIB and ENICON, the workshop gathered nearly 100 organisations driving the production and the recycling of raw materials for battery applications from primary and secondary resources.
Due to the increasing usage of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems generated by the EU’s mission to limit climate change, the demand for many metals relevant for batteries is expected to grow by more than 1000% by 2050. Held in a hybrid format, the workshop provided participants with the opportunity to discover innovation routes followed by the clustering projects on their pathway to secure sustainable and responsible sourcing of raw materials for battery production.
Nearly three hours packed with presentations provided stakeholders with essential information about each project, from the main objectives and expected outcomes, to the lessons drawn from the activities carried out.
The CROCODILE project – First of a kind commercial Compact system for the efficient Recovery of Cobalt Designed with novel Integrated Leading technologies– was presented by Dr. Lourdes Yurramendi (TECNALIA). As the most mature project, CROCODILE’s keynote focused on valuable findings and learnings regarding different aspects of the project: the samples treatment, the selection of flowsheets, the life cycle analysis (LCA) and cost (LCC) of the pilot unit, to name only a few. Later on Monday, the project was also featured as a Success Story in the Raw Materials Week, where the presentation video was played for the first time.
Download the CROCODILE presentation
Sonia Matencio Lloberas (LEITAT) presented the BATRAW project – Recycling of end-of-life battery packs for domestic raw material supply chains and enhanced circular economy. This project will develop and demonstrate two innovative pilot systems for sustainable recycling and end-of-life (EoL) management of EV batteries. Depending on the results obtained, these technologies could be extended to other types of batteries to recover all the metals and materials contained: i.e., cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium, graphite, aluminium, and copper.
Download the BATRAW presentation
Nader Akil (PNO Innovation Belgium) explained the mission and the motivation behind the RHINOCEROS project – Batteries reuse and direct production of high performances cathodic and anodic materials and other raw materials from batteries recycling using low cost and environmentally friendly technologies. As attractive energy storage technologies, Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have proven to be a reliable solution, especially when it comes to the production of low-emission fleets (EVs), followed by stationary storage market and consumer electronics. According to the Strategic research Agenda for Batteries, by 2030, the global demand for LIBs is estimated to increase 14 times and the EU could account for 17%. The battery market is expected to reach 250 billion EUR/year by 2025, while the production in Europe is foreseen to rise to 300 GWh/year as of 2030. This generates opportunities for projects like RHINOCEROS to develop economically and environmentally viable routes for re-using and recycling EoL EVs and stationary energy storage Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).
Download the RHINOCEROS presentation
Similar to the RHINOCEROS project, FREE4LIB [Feasible recovery of critical raw materials through a new circular ecosystem for a Li-ion battery cross-value chain in Europe] aims to simplify the recycling process of LIBs, as a more resilient and environmentally friendly alternative to the current linear economic model – take, make, dispose. The project, presented by Juan Castro (CARTIF), will develop six technologies at TRL5 to achieve new sustainable and efficient processes to recycle EoL LIBs: dismantling, pre-treatment and four materials recovery processes aiming to reach highly efficient materials recovery (metal oxides, metals and polymers). Additional to the recycling solutions, FREE4LIB will also target three processes dealing with metals and polymers re-using and electrode synthesis to re-manufacture new LIBs.
Download the FREE4LIB presentation
Justo Garcia (Orano Mining) presented the RESPECT project. Funded by the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, the project aims to strengthen expertise in techniques and the value chain for the recycling of electric vehicle batteries at European level. The RESPECT project will develop a global process encompassing a process-chain flexible enough to treat all kinds of batteries in closed loop. Precisely, researchers will explore two recycling routes: full hydrometallurgy and direct recycling, and an improved Life Cycle Assessment of each recycling segment to reduce emissions, health risks and safety issues.
Download the RESPECT presentation
Recently launched, the LiCORNE project – Lithium recovery and battery-grade materials production from European resources, was introduced by Alan González Morales (PNO Innovation Belgium), who explained briefly the project’s ambitious objectives to establish the first-ever Li supply chain in Europe. With five large primary resource owners (including one of the world leaders in Li production) involved in the consortium, the project aims to increase European Li processing and refining capacity for producing battery-grade chemicals from ores, geothermal and continental brines, tailings and off specification battery cathode materials (waste).
Download the LiCORNE presentation
Gabriel Hidalgo, from the Recycling Unit of Avesta Battery & Energy Engineering (ABEE), outlined the objectives and the impact expected from the RELiEF project – Recycling of Lithium from Secondary Raw Materials and Further. Expected to boost the recycling industry, this project aims to reduce Li waste by more than 70%, and to transform recycled resources into high value battery-grade material. Relying on a very diversified consortium, RELiEF will additionally propose a new business model for materials acquisition and processing, taking into consideration environmental and social sustainability.
Download the RELiEF presentation
Sofía Riaño Torres (KU LEUVEN) presented the last EU project, ENICON– Sustainable processing of Europe’s low-grade sulphidic and lateritic nickel/cobalt ores and tailings into battery-grade metals -Launched in June 2022, the project aims to improve the refining capacity of domestic and imported low-grade Ni/Co. ENICON’s metal recovery route using hydrochloric acid dispenses with the old-school hydro-based approach that involves continuously precipitating and redissolving metals. Thus, it reduces the amount of chemicals needed for metal dissolution, which results in the production of potentially harmful waste streams. More information about the project in the joint documentary commissioned together with EU funded project NEMO: Responsible Mining in Europe.
Download the ENICON presentation
Although only in its first edition, the clustering workshop Production of raw materials for batteries from European resources attracted a diversified range of stakeholders. Counting more than 150 people registered, the audience was dominated by research organisations (26,97%), the rest of the audience being equally distributed between academia (17,76%), large companies (17,11%), SMEs (16,45%), EU institutions (4,61%) and other stakeholders addressing raw materials – national and regional administrative authorities, logistics service provides, investing companies, trade associations, NGOs, consulting companies (17,76%). Participants are located mainly in Europe but a percentage of nearly 20% shows growing enthusiasm from third countries, such as Turkey, Canada, South Korea, Chile, etc.
With the real peak of valuable outcomes from H2020 projects coming now, the aim goes beyond informing about the progress achieved to date. Building on the knowledge generated so far, new projects need to address different challenges, such as the high cost of exploration activities, the geological uncertainty, and the necessity to develop improved processing and refining technologies for better recovery of minerals and metals from side streams and industrial waste. Such challenges require close collaboration on all levels and across the entire battery value chain.
The last part of the event featured an interactive session, which included seven questions scrutinising stakeholders’ interest for similar clustering initiatives. With favourable answers and reviews, the Production of raw materials for batteries from European resources could turn into a permanent clustering hub fostering knowledge exchange and stimulating synergies between projects. More information will follow soon.
