Study: Reliable Metal Traceability Takes Steps Forward
Knowing where the metals, in a smart phone for example, were mined and refined is essential from a responsibility perspective. Geoscientists are exploring reliable metal traceability solutions in various research projects, and the latest study investigated how rare earth elements can be traced along the value chain. The study was conducted in the Nordic Sustainable Minerals project coordinated by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK). Additionally, the project designed a Nordic database for already mined and processed materials.
The Nordic region has started an ambitious journey towards reducing environmental and climate impacts from the minerals sector. EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) highlights this for the whole Europe.
“Promoting the energy transition and developing defense technology require a significant amount of minerals. Ensuring their availability responsibly requires the contribution of mining operators and the entire value chain. The Nordic countries play an important role as leaders in this area. This involves both traceability and the utilization of by-products”, says Kimmo Tiilikainen, Director General, GTK.
The latest results are around traceability and the Nordic secondary raw material database for better visibility on their critical raw material potential. The project was funded by Nordic Innovation, an organization under the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Traceability is imperative for ensuring the transparency and accountability of a sustainable global value chains
For tracing the origin of minerals and metals, geoscientists are looking into the ore deposits as well as the whole value chain. They are trying to find minerals’ unique fingerprints that can identify the deposits themselves as well as differentiating them from other deposits globally. Traceability gives the sustainability of global value chains transparency and accountability.
In a proof-of-concept study of a magnet value chain from mining and refining to manufacturing geoscientists have acquired new results.
“We investigated rare earth deposits including Kringlerne in Greenland, Norra Kärr in Sweden, Fen in Norway and Sokli in Finland. The results demonstrate that, the only geo-signatures that survive the entire refining and manufacturing process are certain trace elements and isotopes. These results will help increase the reliability of the traceability together with advanced document-based solutions”, says Xuan Liu, Senior Researcher, GTK.
A new database that creates an overview of the critical raw material potential in secondary resources
Improved management and classification of secondary resources and estimation of their critical raw material potential in the Nordic countries is essential to a more circular and sustainable action.
Valorization of secondary materials, such as mining waste, depends on collecting and utilizing more data to improve its understanding. This project on secondary raw materials stems from previous work done in the Nordics on the primary resources, in 2021. It introduces a framework for the information management and classification of secondary resources and their critical raw material potential. Modern data science was used and the project results provides up to date case studies with interdisciplinary geoscience applications.
The project contributed to different phases commonly adopted in quantitative data analysis:
1. Creating a knowledge base. Together with the data for the primary materials, we are now collecting and integrating information for secondary materials. This should help us with their re-evaluation when they are needed.
2. Data classification. Vast amounts of data are being collected at different stages of the metals and minerals value chain. The data can be used to define and classify by-products, estimating their value, to make secondary resources more accessible, and finding alternative usage and applications.
3. Decision-making. We can use the data gathered from the minerals and metals value chain to optimize the recovery processes as well as future mining projects. We can also identify harmful or dangerous substances mitigating environmental impacts.
“Informatization of data helps decision makers to get up-to-date, relevant knowledge in a timely manner”, says Leonardo Feltrin, Senior Research Specialist, GTK.
The project is coordinated by Geological Survey of Finland (GTK). The other co-operating partners are Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Geological Survey of Norway, Geological Survey of Sweden, Iceland GeoSurvey, Ministry of Mineral Resources Government of Greenland, Norwegian Directorate of Mining and University of Iceland, Faculty of Earth Sciences.
More information
Xuan Liu, Senior Researcher
Geological Survey of Finland GTK
xuan.liu@gtk.fi
Leonardo Feltrin, Senior Research Specialist
Geological Survey of Finland GTK
leonardo.feltrin@gtk.fi
