Metals are essential components of almost all modern technology. Amongst these are the emerging technologies on which we are depending to tackle the Climate Emergency: electric motors, batteries, transformers, photovoltaic panels and catalysts, just to name a few. Consequently, demand for 'green technology metals' (including Ni, Cu, Pd and Co) is surging, and is projected over the next 25 years, to eclipse the total for all previous human history. Recycling can only deliver a fraction of the supply. Even for metals such as Co, for which it is as high as 70%, it only accounts for 30% of demand. For metals which are more difficult to recycle, including Se, In and V, it remains <1%. It is therefore clear that the continued health and prosperity of both humankind and the natural environment depend on a huge increase in sustainable metal mining this Century. Despite such urgency, our methodology for the extraction of metals from the subsurface hasn't changed since the inception of metal mining which marked the beginning of the Bronze Age; we still "dig up" the raw materials. This results in environmental damage on a truly global scale. Therefore, whilst the metals extracted may be used to build 'green technologies' the nature of their extraction, via energy intensive digging, haulage and crushing, means that there is considerable "embedded carbon" in all metal products. This is hampering our ability to address the Climate Emergency. In fact, the situation is presently worsening, because as the near-surface ore deposits are being exhausted we are resorting to digging deeper into the subsurface (>1km depth in some cases) to reach them. The massive energy consumption involved is raising the degree of embedded carbon in humanity's metal supply, just at the time when we need urgently to reduce it. This is a global problem but also one which is important for the UK. Burgeoning demand for green technology metals coupled with various shifts in geopolitical conditions have dictated that metal mining is back on the UK political agenda. The prospect of a mining renaissance, however, has attracted scrutiny from the general public who have expressed concerns that it will compound and reproduce the social and ecological damage that has been associated with extractive activities in the past. Indeed, the high population density of the UK and Europe demands radical new thinking into what technology is appropriate for the extraction of our metal resources. We need radical new thinking in how we extract metals from the subsurface. This project seeks an entirely new approach to metal mining. In particular we will investigate the use of electricity and a suitable electrolyte (liquid that can carry dissolved metal ions) to decompose a metal-bearing ore deposit (to yield the desired metal) whilst it remains buried in the subsurface. Fundamental electrochemical theory suggests that this may be possible only using only a modest energy supply (i.e. of the same order of magnitude as can be supplied using a modest-sized array of solar panels). The metal laden electrolyte fluid will then be pumped to the surface. We anticipate that this new method would be particularly applicable for an important class of minerals that comprise metals bonded with reduced sulfur, known as the sulfides. These are noteworthy for their ability to conduct electricity, which is a critical requirement. The sulfides are widely regarded as the most important type of ore and currently supply approximately >80% of all Cu, >70% of all Co, >60% of all Ni, >95% of all Zn and >99% of all platinum group metals. This project will provide the fundamental "proof of concept" data for this radically new approach to metal mining. We anticipate several technical challenges, however if we are successful, then we could unlock an entirely new sustainable future.

The Circular Economy (CE) is a revolutionary alternative to a traditional linear, make-use-dispose economy. It is based on the central principle of maintaining continuous flows of resources at their highest value for the longest period and then recovering, cascading and regenerating products and materials at the end of each life cycle. Metals are ideal flows for a circular economy. With careful stewardship and good technology, metals mined from the Earth can be reused indefinitely. Technology metals (techmetals) are an essential, distinct, subset of specialist metals. Although they are used in much smaller quantities than industrial metals such as iron and aluminium, each techmetal has its own specific and special properties that give it essential functions in devices ranging from smart phones, batteries, wind turbines and solar cells to electric vehicles. Techmetals are thus essential enablers of a future circular, low carbon economy and demand for many is increasing rapidly. E.g., to meet the UK's 2050 ambition for offshore wind turbines will require 10 years' worth of global neodymium production. To replace all UK-based vehicles with electric vehicles would require 200% of cobalt and 75% of lithium currently produced globally each year. The UK is 100% reliant on imports of techmetals including from countries that represent geopolitical risks. Some techmetals are therefore called Critical Raw Materials (high economic importance and high risk of supply disruption). Only four of the 27 raw materials considered critical by the EU have an end-of-life recycling input rate higher than 10%. Our UKRI TechMet CE Centre brings together for the first time world-leading researchers to maximise opportunities around the provision of techmetals from primary and secondary sources, and lead materials stewardship, creating a National Techmetals Circular Economy Roadmap to accelerate us towards a circular economy. This will help the UK meet its Industrial Strategy Clean Growth agenda and its ambitious UK 2050 climate change targets with secure and environmentally-acceptable supplies of techmetals. There are many challenges to a future techmetal circular economy. With growing demand, new mining is needed and we must keep the environmental footprint of this primary production as low as possible. Materials stewardship of techmetals is difficult because their fate is often difficult to track. Most arrive in the UK 'hidden' in complex products from which they are difficult to recover. Collection is inefficient, consumers may not feel incentivised to recycle, and policy and legislative initiatives such as Extended Producer Responsibility focus on large volume metals rather than small quantity techmetals. There is a lack of end-to-end visibility and connection between different parts of techmetal value chains. The TechMet consortium brings together the Universities of Exeter, Birmingham, Leicester, Manchester and the British Geological Survey who are already working on how to improve the raw materials cycle, manufacture goods to be re-used and recycled, recycle complex goods such as batteries and use and re-use equipment for as long as possible before it needs recycling. One of our first tasks is to track the current flows of techmetals through the UK economy, which although fundamental, is poorly known. The Centre will conduct new interdisciplinary research on interventions to improve each stage in the cycle and join up the value chain - raw materials can be newly mined and recycled, and manufacturing technology can be linked directly to re-use and recycling. The environmental footprint of our techmetals will be evaluated. Business, regulatory and social experts will recommend how the UK can best put all these stages together to make a new techmetals circular economy and produce a strategy for its implementation.