Rouyn-Noranda, April 1, 2021 – While green energies will contribute to a global growth in critical and strategic minerals estimated at 585% for cobalt and 108% for nickel by 2050, the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) and the Université de Lorraine are combining their expertise in a research project aimed at increasing the autonomy of France and Quebec in terms of supply of these strategic metals, particularly for the electrification of transportation.
Indeed, many countries, including France and Canada, are currently evaluating the possibilities of securing and diversifying their supply of these strategic metals, including extraction from secondary sources such as mine tailings.
Because of the large volumes generated annually and the significant residual content of strategic metals, mine tailings represent an interesting secondary source. This promising research project aims at recovering the strategic elements contained in tailings from inactive mines, while reducing their contaminant load. Two main approaches will be used: the “metallurgical” route, which consists in the use of mineralogical separation processes to concentrate the minerals of interest and the dissolution of the Co and Ni contained in the minerals, and the “agromine” route, which consists in the use of plants that have the potential to accumulate Co and Ni and to extract them from the tailings.