SUstainable EuroPean Rare Earth Elements production value chain from priMary Ores

Project Information

SUPREEMO

Grant agreement ID: 101138353

DOI

10.3030/101138353

EC signature date 7 December 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2027

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 7 125 634,48

EU contribution

€ 6 408 127,26

Coordinated by

SINTEF AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SUPREEMO (SUstainable EuroPean Rare Earth Elements production value chain from priMary Ores)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The main objective of the SUPREEMO project is to establish an integrated value chain for the production of rare earth magnets, i.e. from mine via mineral beneficiation, froth flotation, sustainable extraction and purification ready for the electrolysis process of making high grade neodymium/praseodymium metal for downstream magnet production.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Minerals from the Fen deposit in Norway and remediation sites in Czech Republic have been supplied for initial downstream activities. Beneficiation using opto-magnetically induced sorting and magnetic density separation have started. Froth flotation is also progressing towards higher efficiencies. Also, sustainable hydrometallurgical extraction using selective separation by solvent extraction going on. Optimisation of the electrolysis process is still in an early stage, but on-going. For the upscaling of the integrated value chain, many activities are on-going, especially focusing on developing processes for efficient sorting of minerals, froth flotation developments as well as other upstream activities.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project is still in an early phase, but several targeted achievements are progressing. Since Europe has somewhat limited experience in the whole value chain from mine to magnets, the SUPREEMO partners have the ambition to develop both existing and novel approaches to establish sustainable European value chains.