Sustainable mining and the future of critical mineral recovery

Critical minerals are at the forefront of earth and space science developments. Not only are they essential for the vast array of electronic devices used by our rapidly decarbonising society but they will underpin capacity for construction, infrastructure and manufacturing in extra-terrestrial settings.

In both contexts, highly efficient and low waste/zero emission technologies are central to sustainable resource utilisation. Many conventional metal recovery approaches do not meet these criteria: e.g. copper (the gateway to co-occurring critical elements such as Co, Mo, Re, Te and Rare Earth Elements) mining per se generates ~50% of global tailings. Moreover, future waste generation will be exacerbated by the increasing use of low-grade ores.

Register to attend in person or online

The first day of the workshop will be held at the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI), where a broad range of topics around sustainable mining will be discussed:

• Critical mineral recovery
• Biological approaches to metal recovery from mining and other wastes
• Chemical approaches to metal recovery from mining and other wastes
• Metal recovery as part of a water treatment strategy
• Nature-based solutions – insights for metal recovery

The second workshop day will be held in the ECCI until midday where further discussions will be held around sustainable mining. There is then a transfer and lunch provided at the Joseph Black Building and an afternoon session on instrumental methods for robust quantification and speciation of critical elements in complex matrice.

This event will be hybrid, combining in-person attendance and online components.

Attendees will be able to choose to participate either in person or virtually. Speakers will present in person at the venue.

Participants attending in person will benefit from the high level of interaction and networking opportunities. The workshop offers virtual attendance, where participants can attend live-streamed talks, Q&A sessions, and submit their questions.

Register to attend in person or online

Location: Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, High School Yards, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LZ

9:30-10:00
Registration and refreshments

10:00-10:10
Overview of the workshop vision and goals
Professor Margaret Graham

Chair: Professor Margaret Graham

10:30-10:50
Sustainable chemical approaches for the recovery of valuable metals
Professor Jason Love, University of Edinburgh.

10:50-11:10
Biomining in space: experiments on the International Space Station
Professor Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh.

11:10-11:30
Synthetic biology approaches towards the recycling of metals from the environment – challenges and opportunities
Professor Louise Horsfall, University of Edinburgh.

11:30-11:55
Tea, coffee and cakes

Chair: Dr Luis Novo

11:50-12:10
Bio-separation of critical and valuable metals from spent Lithium-ion batteries
Dr Virginia Echavarri-Bravo, University of Edinburgh.

12:10-12:30
Bio-mining of vanadium under different gravity systems (micro-gravity and simulated Mars and Earth gravitational conditions)
Dr James Watt, University of Edinburgh.

12:35-12:55
Underpinning the chemical biology of organo/microbes-mineral interactions for sustainable metal recovery and remediation
Dr Jagat Rathod, Gujarat Biotechnology University.

12:55-14:15
Lunch

Chair: Dr Andrew Innes

14:15-14:35
Chemical leaching methods for recovery of rare earths from wastes (and TIMA analysis)
Dr Nonsukelo Madlakana, Witwatersrand University.

14:35-14:55
Application of ionic liquids in leaching base/precious metals from e-wastes
Dr Yahaira Barrueto (SMI-ICE-Chile).

14:55-15:15
Understanding metal extraction mechanisms through computational chemistry
Professor Carole Morrison, University of Edinburgh.

15:15-15:40
Tea, coffee and cakes

Chair: Dr Andrew Innes

15:40-16:00
Lessons learned from laboratory and modelling approaches to develop remediation methods for hexavalent chromium in complex matrices
Professor Margaret Graham, University of Edinburgh.

16:00-16:20
Investigating the hydration of tricalcium aluminate (C3A) in the presence of the potentially toxic element chromium–a route to remediation?
Dr Caroline Kirk, University of Edinburgh.

16:20-17:20
Q-Sort – reflections on day 1 small group discussion and feedback
Facilitated by Dr Andrew Innes, Scotland's Rural College.

17:30-18:00
Poster Session

Location: Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, High School Yards, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LZ

9:00-9:30
Registration and refreshments

9:00-9:30
Refreshments

9:30-09:50
Harvesting a crop of rhenium: current insights and future opportunities
Dr Luis Novo, Scotland's Rural College.

09:50-10:10
Experiences in plant-metal interactions on Pb-Zn tailings, covering the challenges in generating biomass, and factors that control metal mobility from these matrices.
Dr Andrew Innes, Scotland's Rural College.

10:10-10:30
Understanding the role of inorganic and organic ligands in determining cadmium bioavailability: potential implications for phytoremediation
Dr Neda Dalir, University of Edinburgh.

10:30-10:50
Tea, coffee and cakes

10:50-12:00
Next Steps
Small group discussion followed by group feedback: Where are the synergies in our approaches? Are there key challenges that we could collectively target for future joint research?

12:00-13:00
Lunch and Transfer to Joseph Black Building
Bus and taxi transfers to the Kings Buildings campus will be provided

Location: Joseph Black Building, Kings Buildings campus

13:00-16:00
Groups will rotate around the activities below:

HPLC-ICP-MS determination of trace element speciation in environmental samples
Dr James Watt, School of GeoSciences.

ICP-QQQ-MS for REE spectral separation using optional gas modes; complex sample matrices
Dr Lorna Eades, School of Chemistry.

Introduction to the Analytical Chemistry Instrumentation Suite (ACIS) facility - characterisation of complex mineral-containing matrices
Dr Rebecca Rae, School of Chemistry.