Press release Wednesday, February 24, 2021
The strategic national innovation program Swedish Mining Innovation annually announces research funding to fund projects that strengthen the competitiveness of the Swedish mining and metal-producing industry. The theme for this year’s open call was to solve the industry’s challenges in sustainability, the environment and the climate. It is now clear which projects have been granted funding and may share in SEK 24 million.
44 project applications were received for the call, which closed in November 2020, and of these, 10 pre-studies, 5 full-scale projects and 1 pilot project have now been granted funding. The project applications assessed by Vinnova’s evaluation panel by an international panel of experts.
Lawrence Hooey, Head of Technology and Innovation at Swedish Mining Innovation, is pleased with the great interest seen in the call and that the work of targeting new players in the industry has succeeded with eleven new players in the approved projects.
– There is a great breadth of this year’s approved projects, they span the value chain from mining and metal production to recycling. Among other things, we have two projects about the critical metal Lithium that are needed in battery production and are important for the green transition. In a pilot project, Northvolt will test replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy in lithium production from primary sources, and in a feasibility study led by Chalmers a method for extracting lithium from recycled batteries will be developed, says Lawrence.
As soon as start-up reports have been submitted to Vinnova, you can read more about the projects, both on Vinnova’s and Swedish Mining Innovation’s website.
Granted projects in Swedish Mining Innovations open call “Tackling sustainability, environmental and climate challenges in the mining and metals industry”
The following ten pre-studies have been selected for funding
Hållbar utvinning av fosfor från gruvavfall
Sustainable REcovVEry of phosphorous from mine tAiLings
Project leader: Luleå tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 500 000 kr
Rening av kvicksilver från svavelsyraproduktion
Removal of mercury from sulfuric acid production
Project leader: Chalmers tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 500 000 kr
Återvinning av Li från batterierna via förbättrade kemiska omvandlingar med återvunnet kol och vattenlakning
Recovery of lithium from the batteries via enhanced chemical transformations using waste carbon and water leaching
Project leader: Chalmers tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 500 000 kr
Magnesiums roll vid järnmalmspelletisering
ROMI: Role of Magnesium in iron oxide pelletizing
Project leader: Luleå tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 490 000 kr
Svavelrening av svavelrika järnmalmsfyndigheter
Sulfur removal from sulphur containing iron ores
Project leader: Swerim
Funding granted: 500 000 kr
Omvandling av gruvrester till värdefulla produkter
Transforming mining residues to valuable products
Project leader: Luleå tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 500 000 kr
Numerisk simulering för optimering av bergborrning och lastning för gruvdrift
Numerical Simulation for Optimisation of Rock Drilling and Loading for Mining
Project leader: Luleå tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 499 000 kr
Förstudie malmpulverisering med pulsad högeffektmikrovågor
Prestudy of rocks comminution with very high pulsed microwave power
Project leader: Uppsala universitet
Funding granted: 500 000 kr
Övergång till elektromobilitet och autonomi i entreprenadmaskiner med hjälp av digitala tvillingar
Digital-Twin enabled Transition into Electromobility and Autonomy in Construction Equipment (eTWIN)
Project leader: Blekinge tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 467 000 kr
VR-Baserad Fjärrstyrning med Adaptiv Autonomi för Delad Kontroll av Mobila Manipulatorer
Virtual Reality Based Teleoperation with Adaptive Autonomy for Remote Shared Control of Mobile Manipulators
Project leader: Örebro universitet
Funding granted: 500 000 kr
The following five full-scale projects have been selected for funding
AI-baserad autonomous drönare för detektion av gaser i dagbrott (G-DRONES)
AI enabled autonomous drones for gas inspection of open pit mines (G-DRONES)
Project leader: Luleå tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 2 086 000 kr
Avlastningsstrategier för brytning på stora djup i svenska gruvor
Destressing strategies for mining under highly stressed conditions in the deep mines of Sweden
Project leader: Luleå tekniska universitet
Funding granted: 4 896 000 kr
Metals4U+: Mineraliska råvaror för en grön och digital framtid
Metals4U+: Mineral raw materials for a green and digital future
Project leader: Bergskraft
Funding granted: 4 114 000 kr
Påverkan från gruvindustrins stoftnedfall på skogens biologiska mångfald och ekosystemtjänster (MINEDUST)
Impacts of mining dust deposition on forest biodiversity and ecosystem services (MINEDUST)
Project leader: Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
Funding granted: 3 200 000 kr
Modellering av hydraulslangar för säker fjärrstyrd borrning
Safe Remote Drilling through Predictive Modeling of Hydraulic Hoses
Project leader: Örebro universitet
Funding granted: 2 841 000 kr
The following pilot project have been selected for funding
Grön kalcinering
Green calcination
Project leader: Northvolt
Funding granted: 2 312 000 kr
