The need for several metals often called �strategic or critical metals� and among them rare earths has recently increased. This is linked to the development of technologies for various strategic industrial fields such as green energy, communication, aeronautics, nuclear ... Thus risks related on their supply have emerged and prices have increased. European countries are very dependent on other countries for their supply. Various initiatives have been launched for some years to reduce this dependence. Among them, recycling and prospection of new resources are two levers to develop.Hydrometallurgy should take an increasing place to valorize these resources. Indeed pyrometallurgy which was the reference technique could be less adapted for future deposit which are polymetallic and may contain low level of valuable elements in presence of various impurities. Thus, innovative and friendly environmental processes have to be developed and basic and applied research need  to be re-inforced.The CEA has gained a considerable expertise in the field of hydrometallurgy. Several liquid-liquid extraction processes have been developed for the nuclear fuel cycle: industrial PUREX process, innovative processes for minor actinide/rare earth partitioning, recovery and purification of uranium from low level ores� and a progressive approach coupling experimental and modeling has been implemented. In the other hand, CEA has also investigated in the recycling of other technologies for new energies such as Li-ion batteries or fuel cells with the recovery of transition metal elements and platinum. Many characterization techniques are available to develop innovative processes which can then be validated at small scale through integrated pilot tests.Collaborative projects have been initiated in the field of rare earth recovery. A project called RECAPE has started in 2013 at CEA Marcoule in collaboration with the technological research direction of CEA Grenoble (DRT/LITEN) and is dedicated to the recovery of rare earth elements by hydrometallurgy from used permanent magnets.The creation of an institute of hydrometallurgy in order to sustain the R&D on critical metals separation inEuropeis another axis in prospect. This institute could include a network of academic laboratories for the development of innovative sustainable processes and a technological platform dedicated to applied R&D in hydrometallurgy.

Hydrometallurgy: Future challenges for waste recycling and metal recovery

247th National Meeting (2014)

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