Shifting mining waters from burden to resource – HydroShift

HYDROSHIFT aims to transform acid mine drainage (AMD) into a valuable resource, addressing pressing environmental and economic challenges posed by AMD. This acidic water, rich in toxic elements, contaminates ecosystems over extended periods, creating costly, long-term liabilities.
HYDROSHIFT seeks to reduce AMD's impact by developing technologies for metal recovery, turning AMD into a sustainable resource aligned with circular economy goals.
The project focuses on three goals:
1. Metal Recovery Innovation: HYDROSHIFT will create new technologies to extract valuable metals like Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, and REEs from AMD. By integrating process simulation with life cycle assessment (LCA), the project ensures these methods are economically viable, scalable, and environmentally optimized, supporting sustainable water management.
2. Valorisation of AMD Residues: The project addresses AMD treatment residues by introducing a two-phase strategy. Metal-rich residues accumulated over time through existing treatments will be batch-processed using new technologies developed in the project, enhancing resource recovery and making the process more economically viable.
3. Policy and Stakeholder Collaboration: By engaging with mining companies, policymakers, and environmental organisations, HYDROSHIFT aims to tackle regulatory and economic barriers, promoting best practices for AMD and AMD residue valorisation. The project will facilitate knowledge sharing among mining companies, regulatory authorities, and metal buyers, while also conducting national inventories of metals in AMD and AMD treatment residues. A Stakeholder Committee will provide guidance and align project goals with industry needs. All the recovered data, both technical and non- technical, will be gathered to design a decision-making flowchart related to metal valorisation in AMD.
HYDROSHIFT will use innovative techniques tailored to AMD treatment, including:
• Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) to selectively remove contaminants (As, Cd..) and recover valuable metals as sulfur (CuS, NiS, ZnS, CoS).
• Electrosorption and chelation-assisted electrodialysis (ED) for capturing REEs in AMD streams.
• Membrane-assisted leaching and counter-current leaching for metal and REE recovery from existing AMD liming and dispersed alkaline substrate (DAS) residues.
The project’s multidisciplinary consortium, with expertise in geochemistry, environmental engineering, bioprocessing, chemical engineering, process simulation and LCA brings together leading institutions across five countries. The collaboration fosters knowledge sharing and ensures these technologies have broad applications, contributing to resilient, circular water and resource management practices.
HYDROSHIFT will produce scalable, efficient methods for metal recovery from AMD, providing valuable insights for industries beyond mining. By developing adaptable LCA tools and stakeholder engagement frameworks, HYDROSHIFT offers a pathway for sustainable, self-financing resource recovery that reduces environmental liabilities and aligns with the European Green Deal’s circular economy objectives. This project will serve as a model for other water-intensive sectors, demonstrating the potential to convert industrial waste into a valuable resource. Through outreach, open science practices, and dissemination, HYDROSHIFT aims to set new standards in AMD management and foster a long-term shift towards circular water use.