Methanesulfonic acid (MSA) has proven again to be a suitable lixiviant for the recovery of valuable metals. Within the SMART project, the SOLVOMET group has developed a solvometallurgical process for the selective recovery of lead and silver from industrial residues.

On 26-11-2019, the KU Leuven Academic Council recognised SIM² KU Leuven as one of the 4 flagship “KU Leuven Institutes” to start their activities on January 1, 2020. The KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals contributes to the eco-friendly production and recycling of metals and minerals.

Public acceptance or the ‘Social License to Operate’ is widely acknowledged as the biggest financial risk for the mining sector. Six different perspectives and recommendations coming from six different sectors were debated during a satellite event of the EU Raw Materials Week (22 Nov. 2019).

The ETN NEW-MINE project organizes a dedicated training session on scientific paper writing skills. The training “So, you want to write a scientific paper” is free of charge and will take place on Wednesday February 5, 2020, from 9h00 to 12h30, in Park Inn Hotel in Leuven (Belgium).

The EU H2020 projects CROCODILE and TARANTULA contributed to the 9th Trilateral EU-US-Japan Conference on Critical Materials

The short movie ‘Stairway to Sustainability’ reveals the results of the MSCA-ETN SOCRATES project. The researchers have found ways to transform the various metal-containing industrial process residues into recyclables and high-added value outputs. And they even made a staircase out of it!

Within the SOLCRIMET project (ERC Advanced Grant), SOLVOMET researchers have developed a solvometallurgical process for the separation of yttrium and europium, showing increased efficiency over conventional hydrometallurgical separation routes. The work has been published in Separation and Purification Technology.

The Science, Engineering & Technology Group of KU Leuven, Faculty of Engineering Technology, Department of Materials Engineering and Department of Chemical Engineering, has a joint, full-time academic vacancy in the area of metal recovery from mineral flows. We are looking for internationally oriented candidates with an excellent research record, a strong affinity with industrial applications, and with educational competence within ...

Within the SOLCRIMET project (Advanced ERC Grant) Zheng Li et al. (KU Leuven) and colleagues from the University of Texas (Austin) have developed a solvometallurgical process for the separation of GaCl3 and AlCl3. The work has been published in Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

Within the SOLCRIMET project (ERC Advanced Grant), Zheng Li et al. discovered that selection of suitable polar solvents can enhance metal separations in liquid-liquid extraction. The work has been published in Chem. Eur. J.