Electrification in Metals and Mining: One Path Forward?

Metals and minerals remain at the basis of modern society and their affordable and environmentally respectable extraction and recycling is required. A global population of 9 billion people by 2050 and global issues such as greenhouse gas emissions provide unique opportunities for the deployment of new technologies for metals extraction and processing. Anticipating affordability and deployment of sustainable electric power generation [1], the electrification and intensification of metals and mining industry processes is becoming a possibility. This seminar starts with reporting a methodology and analysis of existing extraction processes (e.g., mining and pyrometallurgy of copper sulfides, ironmaking, and aluminium electrolysis) from an electricity and cost standpoint. In a second time, the results are used to put forth a set of metrics for alternative technologies based on electricity [2,3,4]. Finally, results for process scale-up in molten oxides [4] and sulfides [5,6] are reviewed, highlighting the recent acceleration toward industrial demonstration.

Bio

Antoine Allanore is Associate Professor of Metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). After several years of service with ArcelorMittal working on GHG-reduction in the steel industry, he teaches metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, and conducts research on sustainable metals and minerals processing . Prof. Allanore earned his engineering degree from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Industries Chimiques (ENSIC, Nancy, France), and MSc. and PhD from University of Lorraine (France). He was awarded the TMS DeNora Prize in 2012, recognizing outstanding contributions to the reduction of environmental impacts, especially focused on extractive processing, and TMS Early Career Faculty Award in 2015.