SOLVOMET’s LiCl to LiOH patented conversion process has now been validated in counter-current mode using a rotary agitated Kühni extraction column. The use of a column instead of mixer-settlers reduced the CO2 uptake by the final product.

On 27 March 2024, during the prestigious DOCVILLE film festival in Leuven, the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM²) will be releasing a new Storyrunner documentary that investigates the status of this Mining Renaissance in Europe.

On March 27, 2024, a new documentary entitled “Europe’s Mining Renaissance”, will premiere in Leuven during the DOCVILLE film festival. After the film a high-level panel discussion will take place, featuring Ia Modin, Julia Poliscanova, Nick Meynen, Peter Tom Jones and John Vandaele.

The long-awaited mini-documentary “The Sami Perspective” is now available. The film tries to understand why the indigenous reindeer-herding Sami communities are so strongly opposed to metal mining in the North of Sweden. This joint press release provides the essential background.

Recently, Peter Tom Jones was invited to Sweden to present the SIM²/EXCEED/ENICON documentary “Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle” (24–30 Jan 2024). In the space of 6 days, the film was presented in three distinct locations. Here you can find Jones’ key takeaways.

“Gripping & informative. Excellently presented!” “Eye opening” “Thoroughly informed science communication with real social impact” “A wake-up call for Europe”. Here is the Debrief about the documentary “Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle”.

“Make no mistake. The tsunami of cheap, subsidised Chinese Electric Vehicles is coming. Europe seems to have been sleepwalking into an abyss.”, that’s the opening statement of SIM²’s new documentary “The Nordic challenge: from mine to Electric Vehicle” in collaboration with the ENICON and EXCEED EU projects.

In a new paper by HiTemp researchers of the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals, a chlorination process was developed to recycle lithium as LiCl, starting from the slag that is obtained when processing End-of-Life LIBs in a pyrometallurgical process.

A European mine to EV value chain? Pipe dream or a resounding “yes, we can!”. Find out in this Trends Talk with Peter Tom Jones (26 August 2023, Kanaal Z). A 30-minute hard-talk interview about our dangerous reliance on China.

KU Leuven (Belgium) & Jožef Stefan Institute (Slovenia) researchers have demonstrated that non-REE constituents of permanent magnets, like Cu and Fe, can be recovered from ethanolic solutions by anion exchange (EU ERA-MIN ANTISOLVO).