MAGNEX aims to alleviate the current criticality of magnesium supply in the EU by addressing bottlenecks in extracting magnesium from highly abundant local resources, natural rocks and industrial waste-streams.
Background
Magnesium is a critical material for several industrial segments such as metals production, cement, ceramics, and glass making. Despite the fundamental importance of magnesium for the EU industry (EI= 6.6), the primary supply of magnesium is obtained from China (89 %) which brings a risk of supply vulnerability to the EU supply chain (SR= 3.9).
Even though magnesium is widely available in natural rocks and industrial waste-streams, there is a lack of economically feasible methods for extracting magnesium from those magnesium silicates.
Goal
MAGNEX proposes a holistic concept for tapping magnesium from these highly abundant resources in a circular economy approach, which will not only create a new magnesium supply, but also new products and services to boost the economy of cities. MAGNEX aims to define suitable processing methods for converting those magnesium silicates resources into products for applications in carbon-negative construction materials, targeting market pull through several circular economy synergies.
Funding source
Coordinating organisation
Physical Phenomena of Binders Research Group,
Fibre and Particle Engineering,
Faculty of Technology,
University of Oulu
Co-operators
University of Oulu,
Åbo Akademi University,
Tampere University
Contact persons
Erkki Levänen
Professor, keraamimateriaalit
Erkki Levänen