Huelva, May 28, 2025. Huelva-based company Atlantic Copper is in the final stage of the BISBEE project. This is a study focused on recovering the antimony and bismuth contained in waste streams from its copper smelter. Based on the results obtained in the EVAMAR project, in which a laboratory-scale study of different recovery processes was carried out, a pilot plant was designed and built to scale these processes to an industrial level. The team in charge is finalizing the testing phase to assess whether it is feasible to obtain marketable compounds from these two raw materials, which the European Union considers critical. This way, something that is currently a solid waste resulting from metallurgical activity could become reusable material, following the circular economy principles that are the focus of Atlantic Copper’s activities and which are aligned with new Community regulations.

The BISBEE project, ‘Study of alternatives for the recovery of Sb and Bi contained in copper smelter waste streams through eluate extraction’, was started in September 2023 in collaboration with the Andalusian Association for Research and Industrial Cooperation (AICIA in its Spanish initials). It has a budget of more than 500,000 euros and is co-financed by the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI) of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and by the Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA). Since its inception, the project has studied the critical variables of antimony and bismuth recovery processes.

In this new phase of the project, operation of the 1:75 scale pilot plant for the recovery of these metals is underway, with the aim of evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of various recovery options. Specifically, two alternative processes for the selective separation of these metals will be tested: hydrolysis and vapor-liquid equilibrium. The testing is being carried out at the University Innovation Centre of Andalusia, Alentejo and Algarve (CIU3A), a joint project of the universities of Seville, Évora and the Algarve and co-financed with ERDF funds and by the Interreg V-A Spain-Portugal Cooperation Programme.

With this study, Atlantic Copper opens up new possibilities for the production of metals critical for the energy transition and digitalization, which can contribute to the self-sufficiency objectives set out in the European Critical Raw Materials Act through the recycling and reuse of these materials, in line with its commitment to innovation, efficiency and sustainability.