José Miguel Nieto and Carlos Ruiz Cánovas, researchers from @UniHuelva participate in a European project that seeks to obtain rare earths from # mining waste

A European project, participated by the University of Huelva (UHU), seeks “greater efficiency” in the generation of mining waste and its disposal in order to “rescue new elements that could be valued in the future”. Thus, and according to the UHU in a note, through the ‘Modular Recovery Process Services for Hydrometallurgy and Water Treatment’ (Morecovery), funded under the Raw Materials program of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), researchers at The Department of Earth Sciences of the UHU José Miguel Nieto and Carlos Ruiz Cánovas intend “to improve the eco-efficient and sustainable use of natural resources by developing methods of concentration of rare earths”.

These are methods based on the passive treatment of acid mine drains with the DAS technology patented by the UHU, while achieving “greater protection of the environment and the ecosystems surrounding mining operations”.

During the project, a modular pilot plant developed by the leading partner – Geological Survey of Finland, GTK – for the selective hydrometallurgical recovery of rare earths using organic collectors such as the ‘CHCollector’ will also be installed in the Ciderta building of the UHU , patented by the University of Eastern Finland.

More information: La Vanguardia

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