The University of Ferrara has discovered an enormous Rare Earths Elements potential mine in Sardinia

The University of Ferrara announced at RemTech Expo that it has discovered in Sardinia one of the most important potential deposits of critical materials (including Rare Earths Elements) in Europe.
This is an epochal discovery that could change international economic balances given that today the largest producer in the world of Rare Earths Elements are China (70% of the global supply) and that these elements are fundamental to develop high-content technological industry (like construction of batteries, solar panels, electronic microchips, for example).

The discovery of the Italian field with enormous potential took place while working on the project Recycling of granite scaps II financed with European LIFE funds and the research project entitled Waste treatment: finding Critical Raw Materials from landfills of scraps of ornamental granite rocks. This latest research project is supported by the national funding program PON REACT-EU and carried out as part of the PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of Ferrara.

"From the first analysis of our project it emerged that the landfills in the stone district of Buddusò and Gallura subregion will allow Italy and Europe to overcome the difficulties in implementing the European Green Deal caused by the limitations in finding the critical metals necessary for the transition ecological and digital ”declares Elena Marrocchino, researcher of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Prevention of Unife and co-manager of the project.

“The activities of the REGSII project highlighted that the mining waste in the granite landfills, used for the supply of the flux raw materials for ceramics, could also be optimized to obtain other useful elements. Not being the focus of the LIFE project, the University of Ferrara has promoted the project of Doctor Antonello Aquilano, who is supporting the LIFE project with a doctorate aimed at analyzing the potential offered by non-feldspar minerals "explains Dr. Elena Marrocchino.

"Buddusò granites are composed of 80%, 85% quartz and feldspar, materials used for the ceramic and glass sector. They also contain high percentages (up to 15%) of allanite, a rare magmatic mineral that is characterized by being rich in rare earths (La, Ce, Pr, Sm and Nd → extend) and interesting quantities of Iron, Tantalum and Niobium. They differ from other granites for useful concentrations of Germanium and Gallium, important elements for the production of green components such as solar panels ”specifies Dr. Antonello Aquiliano, a Unife PhD student who is working on the PON REACT-EU project.