A meeting was held at the head office of the Uzbek Technological Metals Complex (TMK) with Peter Tom Jones, Director of the SOLVOMET Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals at KU Leuven (Belgium).
KU Leuven is one of the oldest and most prestigious research universities in Europe, as well as one of the largest and highest-ranked universities in the world. The university is recognized as one of the leading scientific centers for the development of science, engineering, and industrial innovation at the international level.
During the meeting, the parties discussed the current results of the joint rare-earth element extraction project implemented by TMK and SOLVOMET, as well as further practical steps within the framework of their cooperation.
This dialogue was a logical continuation of the systematic work carried out under the previously signed cooperation agreement between TMK and KU Leuven. As part of this cooperation, SOLVOMET specialists studied the technological processes at the combine's facilities and provided relevant technical conclusions on the extraction of rare-earth elements. Work to develop scientific and technological cooperation in this direction continues consistently.
During the dialogue, the necessary steps were considered to bring the project to the pilot plant stage, subsequently organize broader pilot trials in Uzbekistan, and transform scientific developments into practical technological solutions.
As an important area of cooperation, the parties discussed opportunities for training highly qualified scientific and engineering personnel, including the development of industrial doctoral studies. This approach will serve to harmonize scientific research with the real needs of the industry, attract young researchers to practical projects, and train a new generation of specialists in the field of critical minerals.
An exchange of views also took place regarding promising areas for applying modern technologies for processing and extracting metal components in other critical raw material projects within TMK's portfolio. In particular, the possibilities of using SOLVOMET's scientific and technological expertise in liquid extraction (a method of selectively extracting necessary metal components from a solution using a special solvent) were considered.
The meeting marked another important step toward strengthening scientific cooperation between TMK and KU Leuven through practical projects, developing advanced technological solutions for the deep processing of critical minerals, and bringing scientific research to the pilot and industrial stages.
