The overall objective of BIORECOVER is the research and development of a new sustainable process, essentially based on biotechnology, for selective extraction of critical raw materials (CRMs) from relevant unexploited secondary and primary sources:

• EE (Rare Earths) coming from Bauxite Residue (BR)
• Mg (Magnesium) contained in Mg wastes of low grade minerals with silicon or limestone impurities & calcination by-products- (MgW)
• PGM (Platinum Group Metals) included in PGM low-grade ores consisting in flotation tailings (PLGO) & PGM slags, dusts and press cake (PCBP)

BIORECOVER is based on the integration of 3 main stages to reach the expected recovery rates (90%), selectivity (95%) and purity (99%):

• Pre-Treatment – removal of major impurities to achieve the greater availability of the target metals for their recovery.
• Treatment – mobilisation of metals through specific and improved microorganisms to get a leachate enriched with the target CRMs.
• Post-Treatment - Development of a specific technology for recovering metals with high selectivity and purity, for reuse in several applications such as brakes pads, oxygen sensors, powder Mg and catalysts.