Spanish mining company Cobre Las Cruces (CLC) is spearheading an innovative project aimed at extracting critical raw materials (CRM) from mine waste as part of the EU-funded RAWMINA initiative. This groundbreaking effort focuses on developing renewable energy and energy storage technologies, particularly cobalt for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and aims to enhance the EU market by reducing reliance on external CRM sources.
Traditional cobalt extraction practices are fraught with environmental and social issues, including significant ecological damage, human rights violations, and hazardous working conditions, especially in regions like the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ethical extraction methods are essential to ensure that sourcing this critical metal does not contribute to environmental harm or exploit vulnerable communities.
CLC’s approach to extracting cobalt from mine waste provides a sustainable and ethical alternative. This method minimizes the need for new mining operations and addresses the problem of existing mine waste, which can be a major environmental pollutant. By leveraging advanced technologies such as bioleaching, which utilizes microorganisms to extract metals with minimal energy and chemical inputs, CLC aims to recover valuable materials from waste efficiently and responsibly.
Joaquín Gotor, CLC’s Director of Innovation and Environment, highlighted the project’s impact: “With this project, we will be able to add new metals to our production portfolio using circular economy principles, contributing to the green transition and greater environmental sustainability.”
This initiative supports circular economy principles by reducing the environmental footprint of cobalt extraction and enhancing resource efficiency, ensuring that existing materials are fully utilized before tapping into new resources. Ethical and waste-based cobalt extraction helps meet the rising demand for EV batteries in a manner that prioritizes environmental sustainability and social responsibility, fostering a more just and sustainable global supply chain.
As part of the RAWMINA project, CLC will test new technologies to extract cobalt, tungsten, gold, and silver from mine waste. These critical raw materials are crucial for the energy transition, supporting the development of renewable energy sources and new energy storage systems like EV batteries. One of the key methods being tested is bioleaching, a hydrometallurgical process that uses microorganisms to extract metals from rocks, offering lower energy and chemical consumption, a reduced CO₂ footprint and lower capital and operational costs.
The testing will be conducted at a pilot plant built in 2016 by CLC as part of its future polymetallic refinery project. This aligns with circular economy principles, which aim to reduce waste and maximize resource use.
Producing critical raw materials from mine waste could significantly decrease Europe’s dependence on external markets, such as China. The RAWMINA project, which began in 2021, is now in its final phase and involves an international consortium of 19 specialist partners from 10 countries.
CLC is one of the most active Andalusian companies in Horizon 2020 programs. Its participation in the RAWMINA project complements other R&D initiatives, including the European consortium METALLICO, which focuses on developing sustainable methods for obtaining strategic metals for battery manufacturing, such as lithium, cobalt, copper, manganese, and nickel. Additionally, CLC is involved in the University Innovation Center of Andalusia, Alentejo, and Algarve (CIU3A), researching the use of metals from the Andalusian Pyritic Belt to manufacture next-generation batteries for efficient renewable energy storage.
CLC is also a key player in the European Raw Materials Alliance, a significant agreement to ensure the supply of essential metals for European industry. The RAWMINA project exemplifies CLC’s commitment to innovation and sustainability, aiming to provide critical raw materials necessary for the green energy transition and reinforcing the EU’s position in the global market for renewable energy and storage solutions. Through these efforts, CLC is advancing its technological capabilities and contributing significantly to the EU’s environmental and economic goals.
