Sustainable metal extraction from tailing (SMART)

The purpose of this project is to develop a generic toolbox for sustainable metal extraction from both historical and newly produced tailings, using combinations of advanced hydrometallurgical solvometallurgical and biometallurgical methods. After the metal extraction, a clean mineral residue remains.

The technologies provide a dual form of selectivity: high solvability of the vitreous metals and low solvability of the mineral (tailings) matrix. The SMART toolbox consists of a multitude of both existing and new unit processes, which can be combined in function of the specific tailings family.