As part of the EU Horizon project XTRACT, a sampling campaign took place on 30th of June in the area of the Tellerhaeuser mine in the Ore Mountains.
The aim is to identify suitable sites for investigations into in-situ bioleaching and the use of membrane technology for processing.
The TUBAF-team from MICROBIOLOGY, ITUN-UVT and the company SAXORE were involved on site
Case Study 1: In-situ bioleaching of sulfide ores applied at Tellerhäuser mine
XTRACT sampling tour to Poehla/Rittersgruen
The Tellerhäuser deposit is located in the ore mountains in Germany and is one of the most important tin deposits worldwide. While mining has been carried out in the area already in medieval times recent exploration of the complex Tellerhäuser deposit gave new insights in the complex ore deposit of polymetallic Zn-Fe-Sn-Cu-In skarns associated also with sulfidic minerals hosting CRMs. Saxore has recently gained permission to open a sustainable underground mining operation which is aiming at production starting in 2025
General information on the overall project EU-HORIZON-CL4-2023-Resilience-01-02
XTRACT project aims to develop a sustainable ecosystem for the innovative resource recovery and complex ore extraction. XTRACT targets the reduction of ore losses and mining waste, through a novel system for the control of the ore loss and dilution, reducing overall mine emissions and economic loss. The trend towards declining orebody grades and continued development of the pursuit of existing operation to exploit lower grade deposits is likely to continue, in the absence of high-grade project discovery. XTRACT will develop and validate innovative microinvasive technologies and solutions to extract high-tech elements from minerals and wastes, specifically tailored to remote, “hard-to-reach” locations and small quantities, where extraction is unprofitable. The in-situ bioleaching process and membrane treatment will be applied and optimized with the aim to achieve enhanced microbial activity, catalyst production, and therefore, maximum metal recovery from the source [website XTRACT].
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement no. 101138432
14 Partners / 4 Pilots / 36M Duration / 4.995.636 € Budget
Learn more: https://xtract-project.eu/