Contact

Prof. Dr. Jens Gutzmer (PhD ZA)
Director
Phone: +49 351 260 - 4400

PD Dr. Simone Raatz
Administrative Manager
Phone: +49 351 260 - 4747

Anne-Kristin Jentzsch
Press Officer
Phone: +49 351 260 - 4429

Vanessa Weitzel
Secretary
Phone: +49 351 260 - 4404

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Key Enabler for a Sustainable Circular Economy of Minerals and Metals

The Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) pursues the objective of developing innovative technologies for the economy so that mineral and metalliferous raw materials can be made available and used more efficiently and recycled in an environmentally friendly manner.

The institute is a constituent part of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. It researches in the Resource Technology Topic within the Energy Efficiency, Materials, and Resources Program of the Helmholtz Association. HIF works in close collaboration with TU Bergakademie Freiberg and is a core member of the European EIT RawMaterials network, having played a decisive role in its establishment.

News

Foto: Prof. Andreas Pinkwart (Middle) with Dr. Simone Raatz (Adminstrative Manager) and Prof. Jens Gutzmer (Director of the institute) in the metallurgy pilot plant at HIF ©Copyright: HZDR/HIF

Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart from Technische Uni­versität Dresden visited the HIF

Since March he is appointed for the chair of innovation and technology ­manage­ment at the Dresden uni­versity. Dr. Simone Raatz and Prof. Jens Gutzmer informed him about the research at HIF and the successfull spinn-offs. Moreo­ver, the visionaire circulareconomy project FlexiPlant was presented.
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Foto: Metals and minerals are indispensable for a new energy system. To build and sustain this system, complex metal deposits must be mined with maximum efficiency and minimum environmental impact. Lucas Pereira of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) did his doctoral research on particle-based separation models and applied machine learning to improve the understanding and prediction of mineral processing. Helmholtz President Otmar D. Wiestler (right) presented the award in Berlin. ©Copyright: David Marschalsky

Improvement of mineral processing - Helmholtz Association recognizes HZDR-scientist with Doctoral Award

The energy transition, more and more high-tech products, but also supply bottlenecks are putting domestic mining back into the focus of raw material extraction. But, most of the easily exploitable high-grade deposits have already been depleted. For the future, the mining sector will have to efficiently produce metals and minerals from low-grade orebodies with complex mineralogical and microstructural properties. To estimate the resources and reserves contained in a deposit, and to evaluate the potential reco­very, modelling tools that are reliable and robust are necessary. Dr. Lucas Pereira from the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) belonging to the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, developed modelling techniques of reco­very processes, more specifically mineral se­paration processes, suited to complex ores. The Helmholtz Association recognizes his thesis with the Doctoral Award in the energy research field for its creative excellence.
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Foto: FlexiPlant Illustration 2 ©Copyright: HZDR/Sander Münster

FlexiPlant - Research Infrastructure for adaptive processing of complex raw materials

One of the challenges confronting our society today is the sustainable use of our resources. The concept of a circular economy, in which products, materials and componen­ts are reused and recycled within a loop, thus generating hardly any waste, is intended to meet this challenge. In order to reco­ver raw materials of all kinds (e.g. rare earth elements) in an energy-efficient and function-preserving way, it is necessary to develop a new generation of adaptive and flexible ­techno­logies and digital platforms for the processing and recycling. FlexiPlant will be a globally unique research infrastructure, to develop and test scientific models, methods and ­techno­logies for the mechanical processing of raw material in a pilot scale. The digitalization and automation of the processing system are required for transferring the processes to industrial scale. As an open transfer platform, FlexiPlant will provide a variety of research and cooperation opportunities for interested partners from academia, industry and society.
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Flexible Processing for the Future: FlexiPlant

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