Project
Limited access to critical raw materials (CRM) is the main obstacle to developing the high-tech and battery sectors. Thanks to the striking development of efficient soluble elements recovery technologies, highly mineralized water (brine) is a potential unconventional source of metals. Usually occurring at great depths, under conditions of high pressure and hot temperatures, brines mineralized up to 300-350 g/L may contain economic concentrations of metallic elements, such as CRM from EU 2021 list (Li, Mg, Sr), Na, Ba and others. Exploring non-obvious resources, such as brines, and innovative technologies to ensure sustainable exploitation will increase the feasibility of a secured European supply of battery metals, supporting European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) vision “to secure access to critical and strategic raw materials, advanced materials, and processing know-how for EU Industrial Ecosystems”. As shown by, e.g. British company Cornish Lithium and Australian-German Vulcan Energy Group, building a new eco-friendly company that provides the raw materials for the green industrial revolution based on thermal brines is possible.
The technology needed for the recovery of metallic elements from brines is under development in a number of KAVA projects e.g., EuGeLi or Morecovery. However, the location of brines, with reliable and stable sources of metals, is still an open question. Our BrineRIS project will locate brines in Europe suitable for economically feasible metal recovery and test the emerging recovery technologies in the lab. Focusing on RIS countries of the Iberian Peninsula and Visegrad Group, in which thermal brines resources are proven, the BrineRIS project will deliver verified information on brines enriched in Li and other valuable elements. Special attention will be paid to existing mine water inflows and operating geothermal wells. The use of the available thermal energy on brines enables a regenerative supply of buildings with heat and cold. Compared to the supply with fossil fuels, at least 60 % of CO2 emissions are saved (Kagel & Gawell, 2005). Crucially, BrineRIS interactive platform will be developed based on the structure of the European Lithium Institute’s (eLi) Li – projects database. The data gathered on available brine deposits, current projects, legal matters, and technological assessment for metal recovery and geothermal energy production serve as the foreground for future projects and European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) investment cases. Good practice, experience, and know-how will be shared by testing emerging recovery technologies under development by non-RIS partners (UGent, GTK, TUBAF) in RIS – countries. Thus, BrineRIS will foster innovation and entrepreneurship, result in job opportunities and build the RM capacity of RIS partner countries.
Background of the project
In September 2020 the EU released the new fourth list of critical raw materials (CRM) (Study on the EU’s list of Critical Raw Materials (2020)). It contains 30 materials among which lithium, titanium, and strontium are added to the list for the first time. The list includes the materials that are of high economic importance and present the highest supply risk for the EU.
CRMs are key to the development of the European economy in every industry at all stages of the supply chain and are irreplaceable in the development of modern and green technologies, including electronics, solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and energy-efficient lighting.
In most cases, Europe is dependent on imports of CRM from non-EU countries (Fig.A1 – Drawings & Schemes). Thus, the EU aims in strengthening the competitiveness of European industry by stimulating European extraction of CRMs by enhancing new mining and recycling activities, increasing awareness of potential raw material supply risks and related opportunities among EU countries, companies and investors, developing research and innovation actions and implementing the 2030 ‘agenda on sustainable development. This strategy was the drive of the project’s idea. As lithium (Li) is one of the CRM’s which demand still increases and is forecast to grow rapidly at least until 2030 (Fig.A2 – Drawings & Schemes) it becomes crucial to secure its sustainable domestic production in Europe. As for today, Li for the EU is imported from the key global producers – Australia, Chile, China. In Europe, Portugal is currently the largest lithium producer, accounting for 1.6% of global production in 2019 from its Li-bearing spodumene deposits (Snapshot: key lithium mining projects around the world (2021)). However, traditional rock mining meets technical and societal challenges in Europe (Re-localising the extraction of mineral resources: the challenges of lithium in Europe (Jul 2020); No longer dirty? EU leaders want to challenge perceptions of lithium mining (May 2021)), that increase the riskiness of Li projects. Therefore the idea of low-carbon, geothermal lithium was born. In May 2020 the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) issued a policy paper entitled “Geothermal Lithium in Europe – An industrial strategy for the geothermal lithium battery value-chain” showing the unprecedented value of lithium extracted from geothermal brines. This brief study shows the blanc card on the map of geothermal lithium projects (Fig. A3 – Drawings & Schemes) spreading in RIS countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain, and Portugal. This encouraged the BrineRIS team to prepare this proposal filling the gap in the exploration of geothermal brines enriched in lithium and other useful elements which can be recovered as by-products.
BrineRIS will be a great example of the efficient teamwork and capacity building, where the partners exchange the knowledge built on previous projects and where non-RIS countries share their experience with the RIS countries in order to arrive at the common goal – more accessible critical resources from brines.
For WUST and KGHM, the BrineRIS is a continuation of their team members’ preliminary studies financed from national and private funds (Useful elements in brine flowing into the copper ore mines of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline (2020)). For UM the proposal is the next step in utilizing the knowledge gained in the “CHPM2030: Combined Heat, Power and Metal extraction” project financed by the EU within H2020. UGent will share the solutions from the “Li+WATER: Membrane electrolysis for resource-efficient lithium and water recovery from brines” project funded by EraMin2/FWO and GTK with CSIC will bring the experience from the “MORECOVERY: Modular recovery process services for hydrometallurgy and water treatment” project co-financed by EIT Raw Materials within KAVA5 up-scaling. By sharing the knowledge and experience together with the strong network of contacts, in BrineRIS, eLi will continue its mission established within EIT RM co-funded project “ELI: European Lithium Institute” and contribute to the efficient communication and dissemination. Finally, TUBAF will bring to BrineRIS their expertise resulting from “VODAMIN II” and “GeoMAP ” projects funded by the European Territorial Cooperation Program of the European Fund for Regional Development. The BrineRIS project is an action that combines and utilizes the knowledge and results of varied projects financed by varied sources into one project that fills the gap in RIS countries’ exploration by building their capacity in geothermal lithium. Moreover, this proposal supplements research within KAVA upscaling project “EuGeLi – European Geothermal Lithium” that aims to adapt the direct extraction process that was developed for the Lithium Project in Argentina to European geothermal brines and their operating conditions. BrineRIS will provide brine resources available for extraction in RIS countries, which is important especially for local battery producers located in the region. With the involvement of the external stakeholders from worldwide to actions of the Business Advisory Board, the BrineRIS project will integrate scientific and business perspectives on geothermal CRM resources.
Project objective and scope
BrineRIS intends to achieve three key objectives:
(I) To increase awareness of geothermal brines metallogenic potential in RIS countries by mapping brines resources and estimating the abundance of CRM and other useful elements with specific attention to lithium. This activity will cover six RIS countries – Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain and Portugal. Thus it will contribute to the KIC targets related to securing raw materials supply from within Europe and maintaining a strong EIT RM’s foothold in RIS countries.
(II) To build the capacity of RIS countries in low-carbon metals mining technologies related to geothermal brines by sharing experience in developing innovative recovery solutions and knowledge exchange with key players in geothermal recovery from non-RIS countries. Through the education and training of students and specialists from RIS countries, BrineRIS will increase the competitiveness and innovativeness of the RIS workforce. These activities will be directed not only to partners’ countries but also to stakeholders from other RIS regions (Baltic, Balkans, Ukraine) offering them free participation to widen the impact of the project. This objective will support the achievement of the KIC’s target in developing new tools for ethical sourcing of raw materials, as well as upskilling the workforce in the mining sector together with delivering entrepreneurship oriented young professionals to the industry and local innovation ecosystems, fully integrating the Knowledge Triangle (KT).
(III) To attract investors to RIS countries by developing an interactive platform of potential geothermal brines projects and preparing at least one investment case for the ERMA. That way we increase the geographical coverage of the project to worldwide stakeholders. This aim will be supported by close cooperation with the Business Advisory Board (BAB) and will contribute to the KIC’s target in establishing industry alliances as a key mechanism towards the sustainable and secure supply of raw materials. Depending on the results of the project, BrineRIS may also contribute to achieving the target related to the opening of at least one new mine in Europe by 2027.
All the objectives are strictly in line with the European policy on Raw Materials and Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials announced by the European Commission in 2020.
Every partner of the consortium has a clearly defined role in the project, which is described in section “Partners”. Although it is not obligatory, co-funding is provided by non-RIS, industrial and RTO partners demonstrating their strong belief in this Project and support of RIS partners. A contingency plan is prepared in case of unexpected withdrawal of one of the partners. Such risk is identified and will be monitored and mitigated by the identification of a group of institutions that can replace the missing partners.
Needs and impact
In the RIS countries covered by the project, geothermal energy is quite well developed, such as in the Polish and Slovak Tatra regions and the Hungarian formation of the Pannonian Basin. However, the metallogenic potential of these hot waters is not yet well recognized. Moreover, the workforce is not yet well prepared to develop concepts for recovering metals from geothermal resources with renewable energy support. Additionally, these countries carry the burden of traditional mining, which has a very poor public perception and is associated with environmental damage and the negative social impact of mine closures. It also entails high risk related to investment in exploration and mining projects, decreasing the regions’ attractiveness for raw materials investors. This trend is opposite to increasing investment in battery production (see the section “Alignment with the strategy of EIT Raw Materials”). Thus, to face the above-mentioned challenges, the project aims to reach several target groups.
First, the key beneficiaries of the project are professionals, research staff and students from RIS countries. BrineRIS intends to develop their competencies in innovative low-carbon recovery technologies and fills the gap to improve the skills of RIS countries workforce.
Secondly, to increase awareness on eco-friendly green innovative mining technologies and improve the social perception of the mining and raw materials sector, BrineRIS aims to promote and disseminate project outcomes to wide society. Professional dissemination actions will go through extensive promotional activities during science festivals, open days, webinars, promotional movies on social media, etc.
And finally, to answer the needs of the battery sector and raw materials industry in providing a sustainable and stable source of metals for European batteries production, BrineRIS targets potential investors in the exploration and mining of unconventional CRM deposits from all over the world. For that reason, an interactive platform presenting the project results will be developed. Moreover, the platform will enable a proper place to test and develop emerging technologies in low-carbon CRM recovery in a real environment. Start-ups and tech companies will be able to identify prospective areas where their innovative installation could be tested and piloted. Thus, they will transfer technology and knowledge to RIS countries.
Furthermore, an investment case will be prepared to attract the European Raw Materials Alliance members (www.erma.com, supported by KIC EIT Raw Materials) and European Battery Alliance (https://www.eba250.com, supported by KIC EIT Inno Energy) members. This cross -KIC activity is possible thanks to supporting BrineRIS by Vulcan Energy Group (see Letter of Support in “Drawings and Schemes” section), the partner of EIT Inno Energy. Therefore, it should also result in increased investment in raw materials in RIS countries.
As it was explained in the “Alignment with the strategy of EIT RawMaterials” section of the proposal, BrineRIS is a strategic importance project that meets the identified Europe’s and KIC’s needs:
(I) Decrease dependency on imported raw materials through the identification of new CRM sources and testing innovative recovery technologies.
(II) Increase social acceptance of the extraction and production of the raw materials through wide society-directed dissemination of sustainable recovery technologies that fulfill the Green Deal’s aspirational goals,
(III) Transit to ‘green energy’ in mining and support UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 – Responsible production and consumption through renewable energy to drive the CRM recovery processes.
In addition to the described importance of BrineRIS, the project will generate indirect benefits to the EIT Raw Materials community. Due to cooperation between entities from five CLCs, the project will strengthen the bonds within EIT RM partners from the whole Knowledge Triangle all over Europe. It also involves worldwide stakeholders (see Letters of Support) and Task Partners. They will bring new knowledge and expertise to the community and may join EIT RM or ERMA in the future, based on the good experience of the project. Furthermore, because of a clear link to EuGeLi and MoRecovery KAVA’s projects, BrineRIS will leverage their effects by opening new opportunities to test the results of these projects in RIS countries in the future.
Moreover, one of the additional benefits of BrineRIS is the support of diversity and inclusion. It is visible already at the stage of the proposal, where people with different backgrounds speak one language to reach the Project goals. BrineRIS creates an Inclusive environment of the consortium providing everyone an equal opportunity to contribute to and influence every part and level of a project. It is also worth mentioning that more than half of the project team are women, including the Project Manager and leaders on the partners’ side. Thus, as seen with the inclusion of innovative, clean and digital technologies in the Raw Materials Sector, also BrineRIS contributes to an increase of Gender Balance in a, so far, mostly male-dominated field.