Odisha pilot plants to extract rare earths from fly ash and red mud
BHUBANESWAR: Two pilot plants in Odisha are set to turn industrial waste into valuable resources, with the recovery of rare earth elements and other materials from coal fly ash and bauxite residue, also known as red mud. The initiatives are backed by the National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a Navratna public sector enterprise under the Union Ministry of Mines.
NALCO said in a statement that it has strengthened its research and development efforts through collaborations with leading national research institutions. The goal is to develop scalable and commercially viable technologies for valorising industrial residues and recovering critical minerals.
Company Chairman and Managing Director Brijendra Pratap Singh inaugurated the first-of-its-kind indigenous pilot plant for processing bituminous coal fly ash at the NALCO Research and Technology Centre in Bhubaneswar. The plant, with a capacity of 50 kg per day, has been designed and established by the CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT) and KIIT University, with support from NALCO, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Ministry of Mines.
The facility uses a jointly patented process developed by CSIR-IMMT and NALCO for the holistic use of coal fly ash. It will enable the recovery of multiple value-added products, including alumina, calcium silicate for ceramic applications, quartz residue for glassmaking, and an iron hydroxide residue enriched in rare earth elements, including scandium.
In a separate development, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for a pilot plant aimed at valorising bauxite residue, commonly called red mud. The planned facility will focus on recovering ferro-titanium alloy, metallic iron, and rare earth elements from the residue.
Rare earth elements are critical inputs for strategic and high-technology applications such as permanent magnets, electric mobility, renewable energy, electronics, and defence. Alumina is the principal feedstock for aluminium production and an important industrial raw material. Recovering these materials from secondary sources can improve resource efficiency, supplement primary sources, and unlock additional value from industrial residues, NALCO said.
The fly ash pilot plant is expected to produce sufficient quantities of rare earth concentrate for further research and development on mixed rare earth recovery and separation. This will help create downstream value-added products and support integrated recovery pathways for critical minerals.
“The company is committed to leveraging research, innovation and strategic partnerships to convert industrial residues into valuable resources. Pilot-scale validation of indigenous technologies is an important step towards developing commercially viable solutions that can strengthen resource efficiency, critical mineral security and the circular economy,” said Mr. Singh.
NALCO stated that through sustained R&D, strategic collaborations with premier national research institutions, and pilot-scale validation of emerging technologies, it is working towards integrated resource-recovery pathways aligned with national priorities on critical mineral security, circular economy, and sustainable industrial development.
