Recovery of Tungsten, Niobium and Tantalum occurring as by-products in mining and processing waste streams: A general overview of TARANTULA project

1. This project has received
funding from the European
Union's EU Framework
Programme for Research and
Innovation Horizon 2020
under Grant Agreement No
821159
Recovery of Tungsten, Niobium and Tantalum occurring as by-products
in mining and processing waste streams:
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Sustainable Low Impact Mining – Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020
Dr. Lourdes Yurramendi
TECNALIA
lourdes.yurramendi@tecnalia.com

2. 2
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020
A general overview of TARANTULA project
INDEX
1. What is TARANTULA Project?
2. Objectives
3. Outputs of the Project
4. Description of Work Packages
5. Typology of residues valorized in the Project
6. Technologies involved
7. Role of TECNALIA in the Project
8. Gantt chart

3. 3
1. What is TARANTULA Project? Coordinator: TECNALIA (Spain)
1 June 2019 – 31 May 2023 (48 M)
6.9 MEUR
16 European consortium partners (companies, industry
associations, research institutions and universities)
covering the full value chain.
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020
Recovery of Tungsten, Niobium and Tantalum
occurring as by-products in mining and processing
waste streams
H2020-SC5 Research and Innovation action

4. 4
2. Objectives
Main objective
To develop a suite of novel cost-effective, scalable, ecofriendly and flexible metallurgical
technologies with high selectivity and recovery rates with respect to W, Nb and Ta
To produce a comprehensive database of existing and currently unexploited resources.
To drastically reduce the recovery cost of W, Nb and Ta from feedstock to product.
To increase the market readiness of the most promising routes.
To benchmark the overall performance of the constructed prototype.
To stimulate comercial interest in TARANTULA’s generated knowhow.
To set up a socialy inclusive strategy for bi-directional communication (SLO).
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020

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3. Outputs of the project
• Pilot plant: the best novel technology for the recovery of W, Ta, Nb will be upscaled to kg scale
• A comprehensive directory of existing and
currently unexploited resources containing W,
Nb and Ta in EU will be created.
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020

6. Prototypevalidationofmos
promisingroutesatkglevel
6
4. Description of Work Packages
WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6
Sustainableassesmentand
Selectionofoptimalflowsheet
WP7TECHNICAL WPs
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020
Communication,
dissemination,
exploitation and
clustering
WP8
Ethic issues
WP9
Other WPs
WP1
Management
WP2
Identification of
European resources of
refractory metals

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5. Typology of residues valorized in the Project
• Process residues from the carbide cycle
(currently under-valorized at EU level)
Tungsten carbide scraps
• Tailing from mines:
o Waste from tungsten mining (>0.1-0.3% WO3)
(currently unvalorized at EU level)
Dumps at Salau mine
• Residues from tin:
o Mining and smelting residues from tin primary
production (>1 – 10% Ta2O5 + Nb2O5)
Scheelite tailings
Tin slags
o Waste from tin mining (0.01% Ta2O5 Nb2O5 )
Cassiterite tailings
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020

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6. Technologies involved
WP3 – Solutions for pre-treatment
Electro-fragmentation
TRL2-3 → TRL4-5
Electrical discharge through grains for fragmentation.
Liberation of target metals.
Technology Description
MW-fragmentation
TRL2-3 → TRL4-5
Selective heating of certain mineral phases by MW leads to
crack formation
Biomimetic-flotation
TRL2-3 → TRL4-5
Specific Inorganic binding peptides for Scheelite and
Cassiterite mineral phases
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020

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6. Technologies involved
WP4 – Solutions for extraction and recovery of W/Nb/Ta as oxides and salts
Solvoleaching coupled
to non-aqueous solvent
extraction (NASX)
TRL2-3 → TRL5
Leaching with strong acids HCl and H2SO4 in organic
solvents (alcohols, …) coupled to non-aqueous solvent
extraction
Technology Description
Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES)
Leaching
TRL2 → TRL4-5
Eutectic mixtures containing a variety of anionic and cationic
species can be used for selective leaching of W, Ta or Nb
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020

10. 10
Technology Description
Single-step MW-assisted
fusion/alkaline leaching
and solid/liquid extraction
TRL3 → TRL4-5
Molten salt eutectic mixtures (i.e. KOH/NaOH) will be used
for MW-assisted leaching of W, Ta, Nb, followed by L/S
extraction with alkaline-resistant (up to pH 12) shaped clay-
like sorbents.
6. Technologies involved
WP4 – Solutions for single-step extraction and recovery of W/Nb/Ta
A general overview of TARANTULA project
WP4 – Solutions for recovery of Nb and Ta from potentially hazardous feedstocks
Technology Description
Alkaline leaching coupled with
solvent extraction for removal of
potentially harmful materials
TRL2 → TRL5
Alkaline leaching (NaOH, Na2CO3) is proposed to liberate
Nb, Ta, Ra and U.
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020

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Technology Description
6. Technologies involved
WP5 – Solutions for Metal (M), Carbide (MC), and metal 0xide (MO) coatings
Novel Electrodeposition (ED)
processes for production of
refractory M/MC in molten salts
TRL3 → TRL5
• Electrodeposition in molten salts.
• Low temperature (200 ºC) molten salts for metal oxides.
• Direct-type (500-700 ºC) for W tailings and carbides.
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Solution Precursor Plasma
Spraying (SPPS) to form W,
Nb, Ta, MO coatings.
TRL2-3 → TRL5
• Is a facile and cost-effective technique to produce
coatings with improved mechanical properties for
high value applications.
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020

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7. Role of TECNALIA in the Project
WP4 WP6
Sustainability assesment
WP5
Solution Precursor Plasma
Spraying (SPPS)
WP7
Prototype Construction, Operation &
Validation
WP1
Coordination of
the Project
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020

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8. Gantt chart
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Final Event of the SLIM project, 27/10/2020
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1 Project Management
2 Identification of European Resources of Refractory Metals
3 Supply, Characterization and Pre-processing
4 Extraction and Recovery of W, Nb and Ta as Oxides and Salts
5
Novel Production routes for Metal (M), Carbide (MC) layers and Metal
Oxide (MO) Coatings
6 Sustainability Assesment and Selection of Optimal Flowsheet
7 Prototype Validation of Most Promising Route at kg Level
8 Communication, Dissemination, Exploitation & Clustering
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

14. This project has received funding from the European Union's EU Framework Programme for Research
and Innovation Horizon 2020 under Grant Agreement No 821159
Thank you for your attention!
A general overview of TARANTULA project
Dr. Lourdes Yurramendi
TECNALIA
lourdes.yurramendi@tecnalia.com