Critical Metals has reached agreement with highly specialised global steel company SSAB to recover by-products from the steel making process into high-grade vanadium products.

Critical Metals has also reached agreement with innovative project development company Neometals to evaluate the possibility of the planned recovery solution.

Neometals believes its exclusive procedure has potential to place this vanadium project within the lowest quartile of production costs globally.

The 10 year long term slag supply agreement will see Critical Metals and Neometals process slag from the SSAB steel mills in Sweden and Raahe in Finland in 2026.

The agreement provides Critical Metals with access to 3 million tonnes of existing and future slag from SSAB steel mills.

Unlike existing primary producers, there is no need to build a mine and concentrator as the agreement secures a slag recovery facility capable of processing 300,000 tonnes of slag per year.

Neometals Managing Director Chris Reed says “although it has taken longer than originally envisaged, good positive progress is being made towards financing the Finnish Vanadium Recovery Project.”

“Neometals has developed and is commercialising three environmentally friendly processing technologies that produce critical and strategic battery materials at lowest quartile costs with minimal carbon footprint.”

Approximately 75% of global vanadium supply is produced in China and Russia.

The agreements signed by Critical Metals, SSAB and Neometals creates a significant opportunity to supply the European vanadium market via recovery of SSAB’s by-products.