SBIR Phase I: Heavy Mineral Mining Impeller Accelerated Separator

The broader/commercial impact of this SBIR Phase I project is to increase the domestic supply of critical minerals that are necessary for the prosperity, welfare, and defense of the Unites States of America. This research aims to develop a new centrifugal assisted gravity separator that can be used at the first stage, shortly after initial extraction. This can unlock critical minerals by significantly reducing the capital, cost, and energy required to mine and extract these resources. The technology will directly increase the titanium, zirconium, and rare earth minerals extracted in the USA, decreasing the reliance of foreign sources by increasing efficiency and reducing waste; this will allow low-grade deposits to be economically viable. This technology will increase mine life, extending higher paying jobs in rural areas. As this technology develops, other mining sectors beyond heavy mineral sands mines, such as iron ore, tin, garnet, chromite, and tungsten will also benefit from this advancement. The technology developed through this SBIR program can be coupled with other proprietary technologies to create specialized versions tailored to customer needs. This technology will create a broad-based platform for future growth of products and services for the company. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a novel method for extracting critical minerals Ilmenite (Titanium), Zircon, and Monazite, containing Praseodymium, Neodymium, Dysprosium, and Terbium, from quartz sands, which are used in the production of electric vehicles, electronic devices, cell phones, aircraft and spacecraft, medical devices, and nuclear energy. The objective of the project is to develop a benchtop prototype unit of the new mineral separator with a correlating computational fluid dynamics model. This will be studied for future scale-up and testing, featuring a unique separation mechanism capable of processing run-of-mine ore faster than currently possible, including automated operating functions. An iterative computer-aided design and prototype construction process will be used to optimize the separation mechanism. Computational fluid dynamics modeling, visual observation of separation processes in prototypes, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and particle size analysis will be used to predict and measure separation efficiency and inform the prototype design. The fully developed technology will reduce total material transport to less than half of current typical mining operations by enabling pre-processing of ore at the excavation point, and reduce energy, water consumption, waste, and production and capital costs. Its deployment will immediately benefit the mining industry, enabling mining of low-grade deposits, expanding domestic supply, driving economic growth, and creating jobs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.