Adaptation and integration of CLEVR technology for the extraction of precious and strategic metals (platinum group) contained in a concentrate derived from the recovery of electronic waste.

PROJECT COST:

850 000 $

PRIMA CONTRIBUTION:

430 288 $

PROJECT DETAILS:

The CLEVR process, developed by Dundee Sustainable Technologies (“DST”) is an innovative process for the primary extraction of precious metals.Co-founded by TDS, Enim Technologies Inc. (“enim”) aims to apply the technology to the extraction of PGMs contained in electronic waste, including palladium (Pd).

Pd is present at levels of 15-20 ppm in electronic waste, up to 1,000 times more than in ore. Its extraction and commercialization represent a significant portion of enim’s potential revenue.

The applicability of CLEVR on Pd has been demonstrated at laboratory scale by DST, equivalent to a TRL 3.

The objective of the project is to advance the maturity level of the CLEVR process in order to determine the optimal conditions for unit operations separately and integrate them to simulate the closed-loop process at small pilot scale. The project will enable several process cycles to be carried out and, as a result, the potential accumulation of specific contaminants present in electronic residues that are extracted simultaneously with EGP and precious metals to be studied. The project will focus on improving the CLEVR process, particularly in terms of palladium recovery, liquid/solid separation, and oxidant (NaOCl) regeneration by electrolysis, to make it more environmentally friendly.

This project will enable enim and DST to collaborate with CNETE to reduce the technological risk of this research phase and will contribute to the opening of enim’s first commercial plant in Thetford Mines, which will provide an effective solution for electronic waste management in Quebec.