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Expected Outcomes

Projects funded under this topic are expected to deliver measurable improvements across resource recovery, operational efficiency, and environmental performance. Specifically, actions should achieve:

• Higher recovery rates of valuable and critical raw materials from low-grade, complex ores and extractive waste streams.
• Improved economic performance through enhanced material efficiency, reduced water and energy consumption, cost optimisation, and greater flexibility in mineral processing and metallurgical operations.
• Enhanced health, safety, and environmental performance across the full life cycle considered, including reduced waste generation, lower wastewater discharge, decreased air pollutant emissions, improved recovery of secondary resources from waste streams, and minimized impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.

Scope

Proposals should develop, validate, and demonstrate pilot-scale facilities located within the EU that integrate advanced processing and refining technologies to:

• Improve recovery of raw materials, particularly critical raw materials, from low-grade or complex ores and extractive waste.
• Reduce waste generation, wastewater discharge, and air pollution.
• Increase energy efficiency and reduce land- and sea-use impacts, including habitat degradation and fragmentation.
• Where relevant, decrease concentrations of toxic elements or compounds in final material outputs, ensuring appropriate management of any hazardous substances removed during processing.

Projects must focus on minerals and metals, with priority given to critical raw materials essential to the EU’s strategic autonomy and green and digital transitions.

The proposed solutions should demonstrate:

• Operational flexibility, enabling adaptation to variable ore grades and diverse extractive waste streams.
• Robust and efficient process control systems.
• Intelligent, innovative production systems that minimize resource losses during waste-rock separation and optimize energy and water use.

Recycling of end-of-life products is explicitly excluded from this topic.

Industrial Integration and Market Uptake

Proposals should include:

• Industrially and user-driven multidisciplinary consortia, covering the full value chain and ensuring strong participation of EU-based industry and users of recovered secondary raw materials.
• Consideration of standardisation aspects, where relevant.
• A detailed business case and exploitation strategy, outlining the circular business model supporting the developed processes, products, or services.
• Analysis of financial opportunities to ensure replication and commercial scaling within the EU.

For projects at TRL 6–7, a credible pathway to full-scale industrial deployment in the EU is required, including post-project commitments from leading partners.

Collaboration and International Cooperation

Projects are expected to:

Encourage international cooperation, particularly with countries that have signed EU Strategic Partnerships on Raw Materials, with special emphasis on collaboration with Ukraine.

Engage in clustering activities with other selected projects, including joint meetings, cross-project cooperation, consultations, and coordinated dissemination. Proposals should allocate dedicated resources and include a specific work package or task for these activities.