An EIT RawMaterials supported joint venture in Finland between two Australian project development companies, Critical Metals Ltd and Neometals Ltd paves the way for a significant increase in high purity vanadium production in Europe for use in grid-scale vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), specialty steel applications and next-generation lithium vanadium cells. The Vanadium Recovery Project (VRP) is targeting a 1.5 million tonne reduction of CO2 reporting to the atmosphere over 10 years compared to conventional mining. The VRP won’t have any waste streams and will set a new precedent for circular economy practices in metals processing.
The VRP, to be located in Pori, Finland, will receive ‘slag’ from local steel producers and recover some of the highest purity vanadium products in the world. This positions Critical Metals and Neometals on the cusp of becoming a major producer of vanadium in Europe late in 2024. The VRP relies on a novel proprietary hydrometallurgical process that results in no waste with by-products planned to be used in the production of CO2-free cement.
Vanadium is a critical raw material according to the European Commission and features superior energy density compared to other battery materials.
