Critical Raw Materials for alternative energies: new end uses

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1 Critical Raw Materials for alternative energies: new end uses Professor Mike Lyons 1 & Professor Sean Mc Clenaghan 2 1 School of Chemistry & AMBER National Centre/CRANN Research Institute, 2 Geology Department, School of Natural Science & icrag, Trinity College Dublin. TCD 09/03/2015

2 Products become increasingly complex..

3 Critical Raw Materials: what are they? Raw materials constitute essential elements in today s industrial production & are crucial for the sustainable functioning of our economy. 30 million jobs in EU dependent on access to RM. Raw materials are termed critical (CRM) when their high economic importance is combined with a high risk associated with their supply. A great share of worldwide CRM production is concentrated in a few countries. Adding to resource scarcity & geopolitical concerns, the extraction & processing of some raw materials has significant environmental impact. Today s challenge for dependent countries, and Europe in particular, lies in securing their supplies at affordable prices to maintain manufacturing industries and supporting the necessary development of renewable energy technologies in a sustainable way. This will also have a positive impact on employment. EU strategy is to reduce dependency on imported RM, to replace rare materials with substitutes and to set up innovative actions for exploration, extraction, processing and recycling (e.g EIT- Raw Materials KIC).

4 The most wanted RM list, EU May RM 20 CRM

5 Global CRM Supply

6 Trinity Mineral Deposits Program Micro-analytical facilities at Trinity College Dublin allows targeted research on a wide range of ore deposit systems. Advanced mineral deposit research program created in 2013 to develop expertise in base- and precious-metal systems. Recent Projects: 1) Trace-Element Vectors in Peatlands Greenfields 2) Resolving Vectors in Sediments and Soils 3) Resolving Vectors in EU Plant and Tree Species Zn-Pb Ore, Tara Mine Upcoming Projects: 4) Tracing Zn in faulted carbonate in the Irish Midlands 5) Cryptic haloes in carbonates hosting Pb-Zn deposits 6) Granite-hosted polymetallic veins hosting ECE s Tara Zn-Pb Mine, Navan

7 Trinity Mineral Deposits Research Extending Production Research initiated to address the problem of dwindling reserves. Cu-rich pyritic sulfides could be blended as an incremental ore. Prolong production in the Bathurst Mining Camp, Canada. Millions of Tonnes The Ore Reserve Dilemma Mercier-Langevin et al. (2009) Increasing Value Brunswick No.12 is Anomalous with respect to its Au content. Characterize the form and distribution of Au within massive sulfides Assess potential value of Au in ore and waste tailings.

8 Adding Value: Precious Metals 10 8 Pb 21.0 ppm 0.21 ppm Signal (cps) Fe As S Mn Au um Time (seconds) Tailings Gold occurs as a refractory phase in pyrite and arsenopyrite, but exhibits extreme variation on micron scale. Pyrite: 20.6 ppm (g/t) Arsenopyrite: 6.9 ppm (g/t) 82 Mt 1.19%Pb, 1.59%Zn, 0.12 %Cu, 0.7 g/t Au Potential Value: 2.0 to 3.0 Billion dollars.

9 New Sources: REEs Cerium; tetravalent Ce 4+ Ambient conditions with high fo 2 Europium; divalent Eu 2+ High-Temp (>250 o C) and low fo 2

10 Hydrothermal Europium Enrichment Approximately ¼ of all REE substitution in apatite is from Eu, exhibiting extreme fractionation of Eu, exceeding values for most known apatites. Hydrothermal VMS Apatite Max. Eu N /Eu N * = [McClenaghan et al., 2008] Mesosiderite Vaca Muerta Meteorite Eu N /Eu N * = [Mittlefehldt et al., 1992] Mofete Brine Phlegrean Geothermal Eu N /Eu N * = [Michard, 1989]

11 Practical Application REE beneficiation can be dificult and costly. LREE (Monazite Allanite) dominate REE production. Eu and HREE are valuable, due to rare deposits. [Haxel et al., 2002] Non-sulfide gangue phases concentrated in tailings. Carbonates Xenotime Apatite Monazite Mine tailings contain significant Europium resources.

12 ECE s: Glendalough, Ireland Deposit is of no use, it was mined out many many years ago.. Not Necessarily Granite terranes (Sn-W-Mo-In) provide unique mineral chemistry. Energy Critical Elements In-Ga-Ge-Se-Te Ireland

13 Indium: Glendalough, Ireland Zoned Sphalerite Grains, Glendalough Indium is recovered during the smelting and refining stages of Zinc Ores (Roquesite?). Indium has many applications including conductive layers in flat panel displays and thin-film PV.

14 Gallium: Glendalough, Ireland Fe In Ga 95% of gallium is now used in semi conductors. Gallium has a potential as a thin film coating of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) in photo-voltaics.

15 Energy critical elements and Precious Metals - Global ECEs are important to underline high tech nature of icrag - Initial focus on by-products of Cu and Zn ores as well as REE - Potential to become a world-leader, even if Ireland s own ECE potential may prove to be limited - Medium-term goal to leverage funding from KIC RawMatters, in which TCD is full partner of Northern co-location

16 Key Megatrends to 2020 and beyond

17 CRM for clean energy technology Resnick Institute Caltech, Critical Materials For sustainable energy applications (2011).

18 Metal & product life cycle: need for a circular economy Dissipation A successful circular economy requires a system wide approach with focus on sustainable mining methods, efficient design and use, substitution of critical materials, and recovery of metals from secondary sources. Need to reduce metal losses & boost recycling along all Steps of lifecycle. Need to secure access to scarce Resources. Reduce impact on energy/climate, Biosphere & water resources. Introduce innovation & job creation. Historic Wastes (Tailings, landfills) Meskers 2008

19 Critical Raw Materials: where do they end up?

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21 The road to hydrogen

22 The hydrogen economy

23 Hydrogen the future energy carrier.

24 The hydrogen cycle

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31 Thank You