Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster | ISMC’s Post

Notes from the Circular Materials Conference last week in Copenhagen: Patrick Klein, Raw Materials Unit EU | We are good at sourcing. Not at recovering. Control of resource shapes the balance of power. New act on circularity will be released next year. Recycling plants are emerging. BUT Sustainability and competitiveness should go hand in hand. Think about making the most of the implementation of circular strategies into action. It is about prosperity. Growth without depletion. Maria Ljunggren, UNEP International Resource panel (2024) | Connecting natural resources to SDGs. Biomass, fossil fuels, metals, non-metallic minerals, land, water. Steady increase for extraction more than a factor 3 since 1970. Non-metallic minerals use is very high. Separating extraction with processing: 60% climate change impacts, 40% air pollution, <90% water stress and eutrophication related to biodiversity loss. Distribution of impacts is unequal. High income countries use 6 times more materials and displace impact to low-income countries. Well-being from resource use decoupling, resource from economic activity decoupling and impact from resource use or economic activity decoupling. Circularity is seen as an end of itself: across objectives are not acknowledged, tradeoffs are overlooked, benefits are taken for granted. There are “circular” solutions that are not beneficial. USER BEHAVIORS: Sufficient time to pay off climate change impacts of remanufacturing across consumers. Need for clarity, collaboration across competences (role of sciences) are essential. Prof. Markus Reuter SMS Group | Metals: simulation-based design for recycling and green supply chains. It’s not circular its spiral, whatever we do we need to reproduce the quality. How do you un-mix an alloy? They are always contaminated. We must always take care of the “junk”. How do you unravel the original material to get out the best possible recycled material? We need a product centered thinking, not a materials thinking. Then we can account for everything that is in the mix. AI & Physics to enhance the process. Digital twins, well trained students in thermodynamics. Advance simulation LCA methodology. Watch Peter Tom Jones “Europe’s Lithium Paradox” documentary! | There is no lithium extraction of refining in Europe; China is putting bans on lithium export. US is trying to seminationalize lithium in America. We need to move towards public engagement and show the importance to developing lithium mining in Europe. It takes more time, but it is the only option. Less consumption, more recycling, but the need for new lithium is undeniable. Quoting Gramsci: The old world is dying. The new world is struggling to be born, now is the time of monsters. https://lnkd.in/d_X4uw6C Big thank you to Lisbeth M. Ottosen and the wonderful colleagues I met at DTU. https://lnkd.in/drcDgFQ3

In this second article in our series on recycling of lithium-ion batteries, we explore how biological approaches are also being developed as solutions to enhance battery circularity. Rhys Williams highlights how microbial mining could be a sustainable solution, highlighting recent innovations: • The University of Edinburgh’s scale-up of a bacterial separation method for extracting manganese, ‘ReLiB’ project • University of Surrey’s bio-based technology ‘BELIEVE’ project • SER’s bio-remediation battery recycling facility, ‘Cellcycle’ • MicroMiner’s resource-efficient bio-based ideas for improving recycling of electric vehicle batteries https://hubs.la/Q03Q0zXD0 #Batteries #MewburnBatteryTechnology #MewburnBatteries #MewburnGreen #MewburnSustainability

Pleased to share the latest article in our series about lithium-ion battery recycling! It was fascinating to learn about the huge potential of microbes for sustainable metal recovery from end-of-life batteries.

Battery recycling is not where you might expect to see the intersection of bio-tech, battery-tech and clean-tech - but here we are! Great article by Rhys Williams exploring this topic. Read more below.

Rare earths #recycling is emerging as a sustainable, profitable way to strengthen North America's critical minerals supply chains. ♻️⚙️ #CriticalMinerals #Sustainability #CoTecHoldings#TSXV $CTH #RareEarthMining #RareEarthInvesting https://lnkd.in/gSGCqgTw

🎯  EU Funding Accelerates Battery Recycling Innovation Great news for our value chain as cylib recently secured a €26.1 million EU grant to build an advanced battery recycling facility in Dormagen, a game-changer for Europe's circular economy. Their water-based OLiC technology delivers exceptional results: 90%+ recovery rates for critical materials and 80% less CO₂ emissions compared to traditional mining. Hydrometallurgy and selective separation are at the core of this breakthrough, showcasing how advanced chemistry drives sustainable raw materials recovery. This milestone reflects the EU's strategic focus on battery recycling innovation, a priority shared across leading research organizations. Within the eLi network, members like CellCircle and Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC are equally committed to advancing lithium-ion battery recycling technologies. Together, these initiatives are reshaping Europe's approach to critical raw materials, enabling circular value chains that reduce environmental impact while securing supply chains for the green transition.

We’re proud to share that pH7 Technologies has received advisory services and up to $600,000 in funding from the National Research Council Canada / Conseil national de recherches Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to advance #AIDriven research and development for sustainable, circular processing of lithium-ion batteries. This project marks an important Canada–Germany collaboration, bringing together leading partners to accelerate the application of pH7’s closed-loop, organo-electrochemical technology for the recovery of critical and precious metals — with near-zero environmental impact. “Research and development are at the heart of building resilient and sustainable critical mineral supply chains. Through the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan, we are collaborating with trusted international partners to advance innovative projects — like the work led by pH7 — that reduce environmental impacts, maximize production and strengthen Canada and our allies’ competitive edge.” — Timothy Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources We extend our sincere thanks to Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) IRAP for their continued support and recognition of innovation in sustainable metal extraction. Together, we’re building a more resilient, circular, and low-emission future for the global metals supply chain. Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/gntH7evu

Baie Minerals Inc/BAIE Technologies Inc. and BAIE Carbon Inc. are scaling #Innovation at the ATLANTIC CARBON MINERAL HUB that will advance #Newfoundland as a global leader in #CriticalMinerals #CarbonRemoval #Sustainability #CleanTech and #Environmental #WasteToValue #Technology

🔋 From Spent Magnets to Circular Catalysts: Building Sustainable Value Chains for NdFeB Materials Next week, the Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster | ISMC will host the first #NEOCYCLE Stakeholder Workshop in #Seville, co-organised with our associate EcoCastulum. The event will bring together key European stakeholders working to advance circular value chains for rare earth materials. 📅 29 October 2025  🕓 09:00 - 16:00 📍 Hotel Occidental Sevilla Viapol, Seville This full-day workshop will: 🔸 Present the core goals and technological progress of the Neo-Cycle project, including advances in NdFeB magnet upcycling, rare earth extraction, catalyst production, digital traceability, and techno-economic assessment. 🔸 Engage stakeholders from public authorities, NGOs, research institutions, and industry to foster knowledge exchange and collaboration. 🔸 Explore synergies with European and regional initiatives such as Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3P) and Circular Economy policies. Join us as we work towards a more sustainable and resilient European value chain for rare earth materials ♻️ 👉 Learn more about the project: https://neo-cycle.eu #ISMCinnovation #ISMC #CircularEconomy #RareEarths #Sustainability #Innovation #GreenTransition #HorizonEurope

Thrilled to hear from Ross Orr, who’s sharing how his company is using bio leeching a process where microbes extract valuable minerals from rock and mine waste to change the way we think about resource recovery. Their flagship project in Tangül, Ecuador showcases this innovation in action. By using bacteria to break down arsenic and sulfide waste, the technology recovers valuable metals like iron and gold, while cleaning up contaminated sites. Ross highlighted how untapped resources trapped in tailings represent billions in potential value, including projects in Yellowknife and Sudbury, where interest continues to grow. With rising gold prices and global demand for sustainable mining, bioleaching offers a cleaner, scalable way forward. Beyond technology, the company is also focused on community impact revitalizing local economies and bringing jobs back by repurposing underused land, like a 150-acre cocoa farm turned sustainable project site. As Ross shared: “We don’t even need to mine there’s so much trapped in the surface.” #InvestingInMiningsFuture #YorkAngelInvestors #Bioleaching #CleanMining #Sustainability #MiningInnovation #CanadianStartups #GreenTech