The Australian Critical Metals group has chosen the Finnish port operator Rauanheimo, to handle bulk material flows related to their vanadium recovery project, a joint-venture with Neometals. 

The Vanadium Recovery Plant (VRP) is situated by the port of Tahkoluoto, on the western coast of Finland, approximately 30km from the city of Pori. The city has a history of hydrometallurgical excellence, whereas the year-round, deep water and ice-free port has the capacity to receive Panamax size ships. Additionally, it is proximate to a 20 hectare industrial-zoned site, and has rail access to bulk import, liquid chemical and container berths. Rauanheimo, currently operating in Tahkoluoto, will be the logistics services partner for the project.

The VRP will recover the mineral, vanadium, from slag, a by-product of the steel making process, producing high-purity vanadium. This is achieved via a proprietary hydrometallurgical leaching process.

The 2Mt of slag to be processed will be shipped to Tahkoluoto from steel productions in the Finnish city of Raahe, and Oxelösund and Luleå in Sweden, by the Scandinavian steel giant, Svenskt Stål AB (SSAB).

This major project, set to supply 5% of global vanadium demand from 2025, will be powered by renewable energy. The by-products of the extraction process will be used for cement production. As such, the endeavour is zero-waste and carbon-neutral, as opposed to the typically significant carbon footprint of traditional upstream mineral processing supply chain.