Our Project

The ION4RAW Project is dedicated to developing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly mineral processing technology to recover by-product metals from primary sources. The project proposes to use novel deep eutectic solvents (DES) to leach and jointly recover by-product metals alongside primary metals belonging to the Cu-Ag-Au deposits. Most of the targeted by-products elements are defined by the European commission as Critical Raw Materials, including Bismuth (Bi), Indium (In), and Antimony (Sb). The project is also working to ensure that it fits within a system capable of recovering major product metals, notably Copper (Cu), Silver (Ag) and Gold (Au). Other non-critical by-product metals may also be recovered, including Tellurium (Te).

13

Partners

8

Countries

48

Months

10

By products

Joint recovery of by-products

As the ION4RAW project has advanced the TRL of its iono-metallurgical technology, it has become more apparent which of the original thirteen metals considered at the onset of the project are most amenable to full-scale production using DES leaching and recovery. Therefore Cobalt, Germanium, Molybdenum, Platinum, Rhenium, and Selenium are no longer targeted by the project since their recovery rates were not significant. The ultimate commercial viability of the ION4RAW process will depend largely on technical performance metrics (e.g. rate of recovery, rate of purity) and economic factors (e.g. cost of materials, energy requirements, solubility time).

ION4RAW Decision Support System is out!

Our Decision Support System provides valuable insights into by-product availability and endowment, along with the correlation between ore deposit types and potential by-products within different mineral deposits.

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