Project duration: 1 January 2018 – 01 April 2021

Objective

The main market for this project are underground mines using bolting rigs. Currently, bolt magazines are always loaded manually. A milestone in automation for the bolting procedure is to automate the bolt magazine reloading. This is a solution that is often asked for by mining companies and Atlas Copco will commercialize this Product. The new Product will improve safety in mines by removing the operators from unsecured areas.

Two strong global trends in the mining industry are the extraction of deeper ore deposits and increased automation. When going deeper the need for increased efficiency, productivity and safety are even more important and the solution to this is increased automation. The bolting procedure is the most advanced operation in the tunneling process and therefore often the bottleneck. The first step in automating the bolting procedure that we have identified is to remove the manual procedure to reload the bolt magazine and the need of camera surveillance.

The solution (technology)

This Project will deliver an automatic and robust solution for reloading bolt magazines and a camera solution to overview the procedure.

Partnership

• Epiroc Rock Drills AB, Sweden (Lead partner)
• Alfred Nobel science Park, Sweden
• LTU Business AB, Sweden
• Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB) Sweden
• Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen, (RWTH Aachen), Germany

Project duration: 25 October 2017 – 24 October 2019

Objective

The main objective of the project is to produce a number of scarce raw materials for the European economy from wastes from the alumina refining industry.

The solution (technology)

The project will pilot the capture of high purity gallium and vanadium from upstream spent Bayer liquors whilst improving alumina yield within the Bayer process. Gallium has extensive use in the ICT industry while vanadium is using in Steel alloy allocation extensively in the automobile sector.

Partnership

• Aughinish Alumina Ltd, Ireland (Lead Partner)
• Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile (ENEA), Italy
• University of Limerick, Ireland
• Votechnick (ALR), Ireland

Objective

AWARD aims to boost awareness of future generations towards the importance of raw materials in our lives. To achieve that for children, documentaries will be produced to illustrate “What would happen if a raw material suddenly disappears from Earth?”. These documentaries focusing on selected raw materials will be followed by workshops in local schools in three CLCs – where pupils, ages 8 to 10, would learn about these specific raw materials.

The solution (technology)

“Most of the time raw materials are taken for granted. Often, civil society does not consider the consequences of the make-take-dispose consumption model of products which use certain raw materials for their functioning. The AWARD project aims to lead school pupils to a better understanding of their relationship to materials and stimulate an individual reflection on the crucial importance of raw materials.

Two documentaries will be produced based on the question “What happens if a specific raw material suddenly disappears from the Earth?”. They will sketch all the consequences on our daily life from economic, environmental, and social perspectives – the three pillars of sustainability. Complementing the documentaries and facilitating deeper learning, workshop packages will be organized and the teachers will be coached to organize them by themselves in the future. Moreover, hands-on toolkits will be used to ensure the concrete aspect of the workshop. As a follow-up, editors and young entrepreneurs will be proposed to produce and distribute the developed tools; this can be specifically delegated to the EIT RM materials entrepreneurship and innovation partners. Workshop reports and testimonials of workshops will be presented to the education governing bodies in each partner’s country to demonstrate success stories and generate support for adoption of this topic and its possible integration in education programs in the future.”

Partnership

• Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen), Germany (Lead Partner)
• Bay Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research, Hungary
• Clausthal University of Technology, Germany
• Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS), Slovenia
• Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
• Université de Liège, Belgium
• Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie GmbH (Wuppertal Institute), Germany

Project duration: 1 January 2018 – 31 December 2019

Objective

Most of the time raw materials are taken for granted. Often, civil society does not consider the consequences of the make-take-dispose consumption model of products which use certain raw materials for their functioning. The AWARD project aims to lead school pupils to a better understanding of their relationship to materials and stimulate an individual reflection on the crucial importance of raw materials.

The solution (technology)

Two documentaries will be produced based on the question “What happens if a specific raw material suddenly disappears from the Earth?”. They will sketch all the consequences on our daily life from economic, environmental, and social perspectives – the three pillars of sustainability. Complementing the documentaries and facilitating deeper learning, workshop packages will be organized and the teachers will be coached to organize them by themselves in the future. Moreover, hands-on toolkits will be used to ensure the concrete aspect of the workshop. As a follow-up, editors and young entrepreneurs will be proposed to produce and distribute the developed tools; this can be specifically delegated to the EIT RM materials entrepreneurship and innovation partners. Workshop reports and testimonials of workshops will be presented to the education governing bodies in each partner’s country to demonstrate success stories and generate support for adoption of this topic and its possible integration in education programs in the future.

Partnership

• Bay Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research
• EIT Raw Materials GmbH
• Geological Survey of Slovenia, GeoZS
• Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (KU Leuven)
• Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen, RWTH Aachen
• TU Clausthal (Clausthal University of Technology)
• Université de Liège
• Wuppertal Institut fuer Klima, Umwelt, Energie GmbH (Wuppertal Institute)

Project duration: 1 January 2019 – 31 December 2020

Objective

In Europe, Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams with high metal and impurity concentrations. Critical raw materials (CRMs) – defined in Europe as materials important to European economy but at the same time associated with supply risks – are used extensively in electronics. The concentrations of most CRMs in ores is limited and the environmental footprint of their use is quite high. Today, the biggest bottleneck for efficient recycling of small household devices and telecommunication equipment is that a large share of devices is stored at homes and end-up in unknown destinations, instead of dedicated recycling schemes. As a consequence, valuable raw materials are lost.

The solution (technology)

The focus of the project will be on education and involvement of school children, both to raise the awareness of end-of-life electronics as a resource, and through them to bring the message into families and the society as whole. The aim of the project is to increase the share of waste ending up in official take-back systems instead of loosing the resource to waste disposal or incineration plants and collection outside official take-back systems.

The project will create new types of education materials co-designed with young people to reach their peers and to involve young people in planning collection campaigns for the end-of-life electronics. The idea is to engage school teachers to be involved in new learning topics, and to distribute information on the circular economy of end-of-life electronics in primary, secondary schools and also high education schools (in Finland) in novel, interesting forms (e.g. games and videos or phenomenon based learning). The main target group for the project is school children with open minds for actions and interest to protect the environment. Besides the school teachers, also university students will be trained to act as envoys in schools. The project will provide the recycling companies, associations and municipalities with new ideas from the pupils for arrangement of campaigns in schools or in society based on feedback from school children.

Partnership

• EIT Raw Materials GmbH
• Fondazione Bruno Kessler
• Hub Innovazione Trentino – Fondazione (HIT)
• Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (KU Leuven)
• Relight S.R.L.
• Technische Universiteit Delft (Delft University of Technology)
• Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. VTT)
• Università degli Studi di Trento

For more information, please visit the project website.

Objective:

The project creates new types of education material designed to raise awareness among young people of electronic waste as a resource for valuable materials, and to involve them in collection campaigns in schools. The aim is to develop education material for schoolteachers, and awareness concepts for multiplication in Europe benefiting previous and ongoing studies and KCAs. Also, university students will be trained to act as envoys in schools.

The solution (technology):

In Europe, Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams with high metal and impurity concentrations. Critical raw materials (CRMs) – defined in Europe as materials important to European economy but at the same time associated with supply risks – are used extensively in electronics. The concentrations of most CRMs in ores is limited and the environmental footprint of their use is quite high. Today, the biggest bottleneck for the efficient recycling of small household devices and telecommunications equipment is that a large share of devices is stored in homes and ends up in unknown destinations, instead of dedicated recycling schemes. As a consequence, valuable raw materials are lost.

The focus of the project will be on education and the involvement of school children, both to raise the awareness of end-of-life electronics as a resource, and through them to bring the message into families and the society as whole. The aim of the project is to increase the share of waste ending up in official take-back systems instead of loosing the resource to waste disposal or incineration plants and collection outside official take-back systems.

The project will create new types of education materials co-designed with young people to reach their peers and to involve young people in planning collection campaigns for end-of-life electronics. The idea is to engage schoolteachers to be involved in new learning topics, and to distribute information on the circular economy of end-of-life electronics in primary, secondary schools and also higher education (in Finland) in novel, interesting forms (e.g. games and videos or phenomenon based learning). The main target group for the project is school children with open minds for action and an interest in protecting the environment. Besides the schoolteachers, university students will also be trained to act as envoys in schools. The project will provide the recycling companies, associations and municipalities with new ideas from the pupils for the arrangement of campaigns in schools or in society, based on feedback from schoolchildren.

Partners:

Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. VTT), Finland (Lead Partner)
Hub Innovazione Trentino S.c.a.r.l. (HIT), Italy
Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
Relight S.R.L., Italy
Technische Universiteit Delft (Delft University of Technology), Netherlands
Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy
Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Italy

Objective

The purpose of the co-investing event is for attracting Baltic investors, SMEs, start-ups and business idea holders (Universities/Researchers) in the field of raw materials.

The solution (technology)

EIT RawMaterials will organise a competition for start-ups with a possibility to win a rebate with which they could use EIT RawMaterials partners’ R&D infrastructure with a lower cost. These infrastructure are defined within the NoI KAVA. Another prize will be to offer start-ups a possibility to participate in an open Innovation platform, which will be piloted within EIT RawMaterials in 2017.

Partnership

• Prototron Fund / Prototron MTÜ, Estonia
• Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol, Estonia
• Tallinna Tehnikaülikool, TTÜ – Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia

Project duration: 1 September 2019 – 31 December 2023

Objective

BATTERFLAI is a sustainable and efficient flotation process for the recovery of battery metals, using abundant resources for environmental friendly flotation reagents that can secure the supply and quality of collectors for the smooth operation of the mines. The new collectors have unique properties regarding the suppression of iron during flotation and selective recovery of battery base metals such as Cu, Ni, Co and Au from sulphide iron ores.

The solution (technology)

As copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) are three of the main components of the cathode of Li-batteries, rising demand from the battery sector will “have a disruptive impact” on their markets over the next 10 years. We expect copper demand from electric vehicles to rise from 208k tonnes in 2017 to 1.91m tonnes in 2030; i.e. a 19% annual increase. Moreover the annual nickel demand for lithium-ion batteries may rise to more than 190 000 metric tons by 2030 from about 5 200 tons in 2016 and cobalt will increase roughly by 450% from the same year to 2025. Gold is not currently used as a component in Li-ion batteries, however it has been suggested as a potential cathode material or LiMn2O4 coating due to its high volumetric capacity and power density. In contrast to falling supply, the gold demand is pro-jected to grow, especially when it comes to technology demand.
BATTERFLAI offers a sustainable and efficient flotation process for the recovery of base metals, such as Cu, Ni, Co and Au, needed for the manufacturing of Li-ion batteries from sulphide iron ores that com-pared with the current industrial practice of flotation, uses lower-carbon footprint, biodegradable and more environmental friendly reagents obtained from underutilized forest residues or side streams from the forest industry. One specific characteristic of the new flotation collectors is that they supress the flotation of non-valuable iron sulphide minerals such as pyrites or pyrrhotite Moreover, due to the need of importing flotation collectors, European mines have faced supply and quality issues. BATTERFLAI, using European resources for the production of flotation reagents, can secure the supply and quality of collectors for the smooth operation of the mines.
The BATTERFLAI project has a strong scientific base in the project research partners, i.e. Luleå University of Technology, RISE Research Institute of Sweden and National Technical University of Athens, and is organized along the value chain through Boliden, KGHM Cuprum, KGHM Polska Miedz S.A., IMN, Hellas Gold, ColloidTek and LTU Business to support the scaling up of a lignin based flotation concept, contributing towards an expanding circular economy and new business opportunities within and outside Europe.

Partnership

• Boliden Mineral AB, Sweden
• ColloidTek Oy, Finland
• Geological Survey of Finland, Finland
• HELLAS GOLD S.A., Greece
• Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, Poland
• KGHM Cuprum Ltd. Research & Development Centre, Poland
• KGHM Polska Miedz Spólka Akcyjna, Poland
• LTU Business AB, Sweden
• National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece
• RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Sweden
• Luleå University of Technology (LTU) (Lead Partner), Sweden

Objective

The project has five primary goals:

1. Create educational material for primary schools based on BetterGeo
2. Translate the mod and the material to minimum four languages
3. Hold four test lectures in two different countries
4. Hold a one-day workshop for primary school teachers (in Sweden)
5. Spread the material through the channels of the EIT RawMaterials consortium and build a website

The solution (technology)

The educational material will focus on teaching raw materials and their importance in everyday life, from extraction to end-product. The game will function as a complement to practical studies, for example learning to identify different raw materials and their applications after working with them in the game. The material is aimed to be user-friendly, easily accessible and relevant for the different countries. BetterGeo is today available in Swedish and English and will be translated to two more languages in this project by the project partners. The educational material will likewise be developed in the same four languages.

Partnership

• Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU), Sweden (Lead Partner)
• Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS), Slovenia
• Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria

You can find more information and apply on the official BetterGeoEdu website.