The MINETHIC project was conceived as a response to this challenge. Its overall objective is to investigate new sources of strategic raw materials for the ecological transition, covering the entire value chain: from pretreatment stages to concentrate the materials of interest and remove interfering components, through separation, recovery, and purification processes, to the validation of the recovered materials in final applications.
The project will investigate new technologies enabling the recovery and valorization of CRMs from mineral resources, byproducts, and residual streams, fostering a sustainable, efficient, and local supply of critical raw materials.
To achieve this objective, MINETHIC focuses on research in the following strategic areas:
⦁ Investigation of new nonconventional sources of critical raw materials and other key materials for the ecological transition (REEs, Co, Ni, Mn, and P) to enable stable supply while increasing the autonomy and resilience of Spanish industry. MINETHIC will focus on streams including byproducts from mining industries, industrial byproducts and waste derived from human activity.
⦁ Research on new sustainable technologies and versatile, flexible separation and purification processes for CRM recovery applicable to different types of byproducts and waste streams, with lower greenhouse gas emissions. This includes the study of hydrometallurgical processes (leaching, liquid–liquid extraction, adsorption/ion exchange, membrane technologies), biometallurgical processes (biomobilization, biorecovery), and electrometallurgical processes (electrodialysis).
⦁ Study of final applications such as permanent magnets, cathodes, and catalysts produced from critical raw materials recovered within the project. This line of research also includes the recycling of magnetic materials at end of life for reuse in new magnetic materials, ensuring industrial circularity and resource sustainability. Additional applications will also be explored.
⦁ Research into digital technologies as enabling tools to enhance CRM recovery processes through process modeling and visualization technologies, as well as traceability systems for critical raw materials to ensure circular economy principles.
The MINETHIC project is aligned with Mission 5, which focuses on the substitution, recovery, and valorization of mineral and material resources for the ecological transition. This Mission aims to strengthen the autonomy of strategic mineral and material supply in Spain in a sustainable and efficient manner, prioritizing industrial waste treatment and mining streams as potential sources, and emphasizing circularity and material traceability as key pillars.