News

Will Europe succeed in opening new mines for energy-transition metals by 2030? Or will public opposition throw a spanner in the works? These are the questions addressed in the upcoming EU clustering event in Mechelen (BE) on 9 September 2024.

Euromines has launched the first episode of its vodcast series on the topic of Europe’s raw materials conundrum. Episode 1 features SIM² KU Leuven’s Peter Tom Jones. A 40-minute conversation about responsible mining, refining and recycling.

Journeyman Pictures will be distributing an edited version of “Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle”. For over twenty years Journeyman has distributed and co-produced, provocative, profound and original factual content, working with the top players in the industry.

SOLVOMET/SIM² researchers have successfully demonstrated a hydrometallurgical flowsheet for upgrading ferronickel (Class-II nickel) into battery grade nickel (Class-I nickel) in a mini-pilot SX facility.

Full programme for ICHS 2024 is out (First International Symposium on Circular Hydrometallurgy, Mechelen, Belgium, 9-11 September 2024).

The full version of the documentary “Europe’s Mining Renaissance” has now been released. This film addresses Europe’s quest to responsibly mine the energy-transition metals that are needed to fuel the transition to climate neutrality.

This study by HiTemp researchers from SIM² KU Leuven explores chlorination roasting as a method for recovering lithium from Li-containing slag, which is a promising alternative lithium source obtained from pyrometallurgical LIB recycling process.

SOLVOMET’s LiCl to LiOH patented conversion process has now been validated in counter-current mode using a rotary agitated Kühni extraction column. The use of a column instead of mixer-settlers reduced the CO2 uptake by the final product.

On 27 March 2024, during the prestigious DOCVILLE film festival in Leuven, the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM²) will be releasing a new Storyrunner documentary that investigates the status of this Mining Renaissance in Europe.

On March 27, 2024, a new documentary entitled “Europe’s Mining Renaissance”, will premiere in Leuven during the DOCVILLE film festival. After the film a high-level panel discussion will take place, featuring Ia Modin, Julia Poliscanova, Nick Meynen, Peter Tom Jones and John Vandaele.

The long-awaited mini-documentary “The Sami Perspective” is now available. The film tries to understand why the indigenous reindeer-herding Sami communities are so strongly opposed to metal mining in the North of Sweden. This joint press release provides the essential background.

Recently, Peter Tom Jones was invited to Sweden to present the SIM²/EXCEED/ENICON documentary “Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle” (24–30 Jan 2024). In the space of 6 days, the film was presented in three distinct locations. Here you can find Jones’ key takeaways.

In this op-ed, published in De Tijd (13 January 2024), Peter Tom Jones argues that, in a time of protectionism, Europe needs to undergo reindustrialization, including state aid. Resource nationalism is forcing us towards a mining renaissance.

On Thursday, 16 November, during the 2023 edition of the Raw Materials Week, the twelve EU funded projects that constitute the Cluster Hub ‘Materials for batteries’ gathered for their annual event in Brussels. The proceedings of this meeting are now available.

“Make no mistake. The tsunami of cheap, subsidised Chinese Electric Vehicles is coming. Europe seems to have been sleepwalking into an abyss.”, that’s the opening statement of SIM²’s new documentary “The Nordic challenge: from mine to Electric Vehicle” in collaboration with the ENICON and EXCEED EU projects.