Midstream and Processing Technologies

Refining, chemical separation and the technologies that could rebuild Europe's processing capacity.

Active

Scope

  • Refining and chemical separation of critical metals
  • Solvometallurgy and closed-loop hydrometallurgy
  • Recovery of value from mining waste and residues
  • China's position in the midstream and what it means for European industry

Most debates about critical raw materials start with mines. This hub starts one step later. Between the ore and the battery cell sit refining, chemical separation and conversion: the midstream. It is the segment where Europe lacks capacity, and one that China dominates.

The hub follows the technologies that could change this, from the laboratory to the first industrial plants, and asks what it would take to build them in Europe on acceptable environmental terms. It draws on the process-engineering expertise of the Leuven research ecosystem without speaking for any institution in it.

Key questions, and what the evidence says so far

Short answers drawn only from the sources listed under each one, checked on 7 October 2026. The hub’s publications will go further.

  1. What refining and separation capacity does Europe need for the metals its transition depends on, and where could it be built?

    The Critical Raw Materials Act sets a non-binding benchmark: by 2030, EU processing capacity, including all intermediate steps, should be able to produce at least 40% of the EU’s annual consumption of strategic raw materials. The European Court of Auditors finds the EU “a long way” from that level, with capacity shrinking: the EU-27 lost around half of its primary aluminium processing capacity between 2019 and 2023. As for where, the Strategic Projects selected in March 2025 with a processing component are located in Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, with France (seven projects) and Finland (four) hosting the most.

    Sources

  2. How exposed is European industry to the concentration of processing capacity, in particular in China?

    Highly. The International Energy Agency finds that China is the leading refiner for 19 of the 20 energy-related strategic minerals it analyses, with an average market share of around 70%, and that 55% of these minerals are now subject to some form of export control. For the EU, the Court of Auditors finds that at the processing stage four strategic raw materials exceed the Act’s ceiling of 65% from a single country: lithium (Chile) and magnesium, gallium and rare earth elements (China). China supplies 97% of the EU’s processed magnesium and 71% of its gallium, and all rare earth processing for the EU takes place outside the Union, mostly in China. In refined copper, China produced about 48% of world output in 2025.

    Sources

  3. Which processing routes, such as solvometallurgy and closed-loop hydrometallurgy, are closest to industrial scale, and what stands in the way?

    Hydrometallurgy is already industrial in European battery recycling. Fortum operates a hydrometallurgical recycling plant in Harjavalta, Finland, recognised as a Strategic Project in 2025; its planned expansion has grant support but in March 2026 was still in development, ahead of a final investment decision. Orano’s hydrometallurgy recycling project in France was also selected. Solvometallurgy, which replaces water with non-aqueous solvents, is further from the market: KU Leuven researchers Koen Binnemans and Peter Tom Jones put its technology readiness level at 3 to 4 in 2017. The obstacles the Court of Auditors identifies for processing in the EU are a lack of technology, a shrinking number of facilities and high energy costs. Low prices add to them: the USGS reports that battery-grade lithium carbonate averaged about $63,700 per tonne in 2022 and an estimated $9,000 in 2025, in real terms.

    Sources

  4. Under what conditions can mining waste become a source of metals rather than a liability?

    The Critical Raw Materials Act sets the first EU-wide conditions. By 24 November 2026, operators of extractive waste facilities must submit a preliminary economic assessment of the critical raw materials that could be recovered from their waste, including an estimate of quantities and concentrations and of their technical and economic recoverability. By the same date, Member States must set up a public database of closed and abandoned extractive waste facilities, complete it by 24 May 2027, and adopt measures to promote recovery by 24 November 2027. Recovery becomes an option where these assessments show quantities and concentrations that can be recovered technically and economically.

    Sources

In preparation

All research