Project: Electro-electrodialysis technology on the copper minerals processing industry to the recovery of antimony from mining tailings and recycling the solution media

Acronym	Sb-RECMEMTEC (Reference Number: ERA-MIN-2018_45)
Project Topic	The main objective of Sb-RECMEMTEC project is the recovery of antimony (Sb), a Critical Raw Material, from wastes and effluents generated during the pyro- and hydrometallurgical processing of copper (Cu) using membrane separation processes (MSP): electrodialysis (ED) and electro-electrodialysis (EED). While Sb is of fundamental importance to newly developed technologies, it is generally obtained as a by-product of other metallic ores. Therefore, the current and future supply of Sb depends not only on Sb production, but also on the efficient recovery of other primary ores. Sb-RECMEMTEC will address the challenging subject of applying MSP in the processing of Cu-low-grade mining tailings and of Cu-sulphide minerals, not only to concentrate/purify the electrolytes, but also to recover Sb and acid solutions. ED/EED processes will be studied, using the circular economy approach, to the primary Cu-production, avoiding Sb losses and minimizing the generation of effluents. Sb-RECMEMTEC consortium consists of a multidisciplinary team, bringing together 5 partners from 3 countries (Chile, Brazil and Spain). Wastewaters, containing, besides Cu, elements of added-value, such as Sb, will be managed by the company TRANSDUCTO (Chile), being characterized by the USACH group (Chile). ED/EED processes will be evaluated with commercial membranes and with membranes produced at FEEVALE (Brazil). The UPV group (Spain) will carry out the scientific studies of the Sb electrorecovery on different cathodes and the characterization of the ion transport through the membranes provided by FEEVALE. The group of UFRGS (Brazil) will be responsible for performing small-scale pilot studies of ED/EED in order to demonstrate its feasibility for recovering acid solutions and Sb. USACH and TRANSDUCTO will incorporate the results obtained to implement a new production process. A high enhance innovation capacity is expected, since a new process will be incorporated directly on the copper line production.
Network	ERA-MIN 2
Call	ERA-MIN Joint Call 2018

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul	Coordinator	Brazil
2	Universidad de Santiago de Chile	Partner	Chile
3	Universitat Politècnica de Valencia	Partner	Spain
4	ASPEUR / Feevale	Partner	Brazil
5	Transducto S.A.	Partner	Chile