| Project Detail |
The U.S. mining industry faces the rapid depletion of high-profit deposits, increased mining and processing costs, and expensive management and accumulation of tailings. These factors result in a reduced return on investment from conventional mining methods. The current global conventional mineral supply also cannot support the U.S. transition to 100% renewable energy. The lack of energy-relevant minerals poses a significant supply chain risk, especially with regard to batteries, renewable generation, and transmission. The U.S. may look toward unconventional minerals (i.e., CO2-reactive minerals) and carbon-negative mining methods to meet the demand.
Project Innovation + Advantages:
The University of Kentucky’s proposed technology will use CO2 emitted at or near operating mines and processing operations to reduce the energy consumed during grinding by more than 50% while improving the recovery of critical energy relevant minerals by 20% or greater. In this approach, CO2 will be mixed with ore containing the valuable minerals, especially copper (Cu) and rare earth elements, to improve grinding and separation efficiency. Biological fixation of CO2 will also be studied and employed in producing acid to recover Cu from low grade feedstocks. If bench-scale tests achieve performance metrics, on-site testing will be performed at MP Materials’ Mountain Pass rare earth concentrator and Rio Tinto’s Kennecott copper processing facility. If successful, the project will provide a novel carbon-negative process using waste CO2 to increase the amount of recoverable energy-relevant minerals.
Potential Impact:
The MINER program aims to use the reactive potential of CO2-reactive ore materials to decrease mineral processing energy and increase the yield of energy-relevant minerals via novel negative emission technologies. |
