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Our ION4RAW partner BRGM presented the ION4RAW process to French national experts during the Scientific days of the PROMETHEE network.

The French national network GDR PROMETHEE was created in 2016 in order to structure the French research on the hydrometallurgical processes for a better management of the non-energetic raw material from mining activities and recycling, and more especially low-grade resources. This network gathers 30 laboratories from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), partner of the ION4RAW project.

Scientific days are organized annually by the GdR PROMETHEE, and are open to researchers, engineers, PhD and pos-doctoral students from the academic and industry network, experts in the field of non-energetic raw material management.

This year, our ION4RAW partner BRGM seize the chance of having such a scientific pool of experts to present the ION4RAW project with a presentation « Premiers essais d’évaluation de la disponibilité des éléments traces CRM dans les minerais aurifères et cuprifères européens pour la récupération par ionométallurgie ». The presentation is available online here.

Attendees were interested to learn more on the hydroprocess and know the reagent tested for DES and lixiviation by WP4 but as it is confidential, they were invited to contact the coordinator of the project (Maria Tripiana from Idener) as well as Tecnalia and Sintef for available details and to follow the project newsletter and following publications.

Discussions with external stakeholders will follow this very fruitful event!

As part of the ION4RAW project, a new scientific article on hydrometallurgy was recently published and focuses on a particle-based approach to predict the success and selectivity of leaching processes using ethaline. Discover this Comparison of simulated and experimental results.

Encouraged by the need for ecologically and economically sustainable technologies for the recovery of metals from complex raw materials, ionometallurgical leaching using deep eutectic solvents is emerging as a promising alternative to conventional hydro- and pyrometallurgical process routes. Current approaches of studying leaching processes do not provide a mineral-based understanding of the leaching process – thus limiting the opportunities for process optimization.

This study addresses this shortcoming by combining laboratory-based X- ray computed tomography (CT) and scanning electron microscopy-based image analysis. The latter method provides precise information on the mineralogy and texture of the leach feed material, whereas CT is used to observe the progress of the leaching process through time. Leaching of Au–Ag bearing sulfide flotation concentrate by the deep eutectic solvent ethaline with iodine as oxidizing agent is used as a relevant case study. Results show that time-lapse CT provides an accurate estimation of the dissolution rate of pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, telluride minerals and gold.

Dissolution rates were used to simulate the metal recoveries from the sulfide concentrate as a function of leaching time. Simulation results are within 5% variation of metal recoveries obtained by batch leaching experiments. The developed workflow can be easily transferred to other ore types or mineral concentrates; results may be used to study and optimize industrial leaching processes.

Discover the full article here and many more here.

Many thanks to the authors of this article: Chandra Widyananda Winardhia, Jose Ricardo da Assuncao Godinhoa, Cindytami Rachmawatia and Jens Gutzmer from Helmholtz Zentrum-Dresden Rossendorf, Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, Isabelle Duhamel Achinb from the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), Ainhoa Unzurrunzaga Iturbec  from Fundacion Tecnalia Research and Innovation, Paseo Mikeletegi 2, and Gero Frischd from the Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Technische Universit ̈at Bergakademie Freiber.

As part of our ION4RAW project, the French’s Public Institution for Earth Science applications, the Geological Survey (Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières – BRGM) published an article proposing a new method to identify more accurately the accessible mineral resources: Predictive assessment of metallogenic signatures using the DataBase Querying (DBQ) method: A European application.

In the context of climate change and related international renewable-energy policy, the fast growth of emerging economies and the rapid development of new technologies have caused a drastic increase in the demand for several metals and other elements. Thus, a reliable supply of critical raw materials is one of the major European challenges in the deployment of low-carbon technologies and to secure several strategic sectors of European industries.

However, not all elements of economic interest today have been systematically assayed and/or studied in the past, and the existing European databases of are incomplete from a 2022 viewpoint. Among recently identified critical raw materials, several elements were, or are, not systematically identified and/or assessed in European databases, as their high economic importance and supply risk have only recently become apparent. Thus, a gap may exist between historical databases and current metal needs.

To adress this gap, BRMG developed a new approach in addition to a ‘classical’ application of the DataBase Querying (DBQ) geostatistical mineral prospectivity method. This new approach is based on the assessment of more global predictive metallogenic-signature aspects, by clustering studied elements known to occur in various metallogenic families, using ArcGIS software. Development of this method at a continental scale allowed identifying several areas of great interest in Europe for exploration of the targeted by-products.

Learn more in the full article here on Zenodo

As part of our ION4RAW project, the French’s Public Institution for Earth Science applications, the Geological Survey (Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières – BRGM) published an article proposing a new method to identify more accurately the accessible mineral resources: Predictive assessment of metallogenic signatures using the DataBase Querying (DBQ) method: A European application.

In the context of climate change and related international renewable-energy policy, the fast growth of emerging economies and the rapid development of new technologies have caused a drastic increase in the demand for several metals and other elements. Thus, a reliable supply of critical raw materials is one of the major European challenges in the deployment of low-carbon technologies and to secure several strategic sectors of European industries.

However, not all elements of economic interest today have been systematically assayed and/or studied in the past, and the existing European databases of are incomplete from a 2022 viewpoint. Among recently identified critical raw materials, several elements were, or are, not systematically identified and/or assessed in European databases, as their high economic importance and supply risk have only recently become apparent. Thus, a gap may exist between historical databases and current metal needs.

To adress this gap, BRMG developed a new approach in addition to a ‘classical’ application of the DataBase Querying (DBQ) geostatistical mineral prospectivity method. This new approach is based on the assessment of more global predictive metallogenic-signature aspects, by clustering studied elements known to occur in various metallogenic families, using ArcGIS software. Development of this method at a continental scale allowed identifying several areas of great interest in Europe for exploration of the targeted by-products.

Learn more in the article here