New European project funded by H2020 programme towards a greener mineral and metal industry

AlSiCal is an ambitious research and innovation project to make the mineral and metal industry more sustainable and environmentally sound. The project will further research, develop and de-risk a groundbreaking concept; the patented Aranda-Mastin (AM) technology. This technology enables the co-production of three essential raw materials (alumina, silica and precipitated calcium carbonate), using new resources – e.g. anorthosite, abundantly available worldwide – whilst generating ZERO Bauxite Residue and ZERO carbon dioxide (CO₂) from production.

Today´s production of these raw materials needs to evolve and become more environmentally friendly: they are obtained through traditional processes that generate large CO₂ emissions, and bauxite residue in the case of alumina production from bauxite by the Bayer process.

Innovative AM technology

AlSiCal will research and develop the innovative AM technology that allows:

• Green co-production of 3 essential raw materials, in a single process and from one source, with synergetic environmental and economic benefits
• Efficient use of anorthosite, a mineral abundant in Europe and worldwide
• Integrated CO₂ use and capture to achieve ZERO CO₂ emissions from production
• ZERO Bauxite Residue generation from alumina production

AlSiCal´s Consortium comprises 16 international partners from 9 countries, led by Institute for Energy Technology (IFE, Norway). They represent the whole value chain in the minerals and metals industry: Research and Technology Organizations, mining and mineral exploration companies, technology developers and end users, business developers and International Interests Organizations. All together aim at effective and efficient innovation towards a more sustainable future.

The project in short

Project acronym: AlSiCal
Full title: Towards sustainable mineral and metal industry: ZERO Bauxite Residue and ZERO CO₂ from co-production of Alumina, Silica and precipitated Calcium carbonate by the Aranda-Mastin technology
Project Coordinator: Dr. Asunción (Suni) Aranda, at Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Norway
Project start: 1st Sept. 2019
Duration: 4 years
Fund: 5,9 M€ from the H2020 programme
Number of partners: 16, from 9 different countries

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 820911.