After cancellation of all European Chapter events for 2020, we hoped to enjoy a smooth 2021 seminar. This was without taking into account the return of the CoVid-19 crisis...

The 2021 Seminar of the European Chapter of the IPMI took place in Dublin, Ireland, 28-30 November 2021. The event was held at the Clontarf Castle, a short ride from the city center. This year we decided to innovate and book the whole hotel (111 rooms) for our participants, allowing easier and more comfortable networking. The Clontarf Castle, a beautiful castle from the mid 19th century (but located on a spot where a castle is standing since the 12th century), was the perfect location for this concept.

The general programme of the seminar was unchanged and again started with a welcome cocktail on Sunday night. Originally sold out with more than 180 participants (and a long waiting list), we had to face a lot of cancellations due to the new CoVid-19 omicron variant. We ended up with around 130 participants, which was a success considering the difficult times. 

Thanks to our sponsors, we were able to keep the registration fee at a very low level. 

The Future Role of Precious Metals within a Circular Economy

Abstracts and Biographies

Neil Meader is the director of gold and silver at the precious metals consultancy, Metals Focus. The role centres on driving the company’s research into both metals’ demand and recycling, and leading the production of its price forecasts and numerous reports.  In addition to being a regular speaker at conferences, he is also responsible for field research in the United States, Canada, Italy and France.
Prior to that, he ran Metallis Consulting Limited, an independent precious metals consultancy and this followed his time as Head of Precious Metals Research & Forecasts at Thomson Reuters GFMS, which itself marked the culmination of 12 years at GFMS.

The Impact of the Green Economy on the Silver Market
The so-called green economy has often featured in the discussion of silver through its very real link to the use of the metal in photovoltaic panels. This paper assesses the contribution to demand that this segment could generate in the years to come but also highlights other aspects of green demand that can often get overlooked. The offtake that all these areas could generate will then be placed into the context of other key likely developments in silver’s supply and demand elements. This allows for an assessment of the green economy’s relative overall importance and how it could shape the metal’s future price trajectory.

Antonio González is Deputy Manager at CEIT, Spanish Technology Center of the University of Navarra, as well as Director of the Technology Transfer Office. He also holds the position of President in Metal78, as well as in the rest of CEIT’s spin-offs. Antonio, Industrial Engineer (University of Navarra) and MBA from IESE, has dedicated his entire professional career to the field of innovation, first as CEIT’s Commercial Director, and afterwards, as member of CEIT’s Governing Board, building up deep-tech spin-offs, of which seven were acquired by large companies from USA, China, Israel, France…, and being in charge of the Intellectual Property management.

Hydrometallurgical Processing of end of life automotive catalysts
Current technologies are falling short of addressing complex problems that are emerging, not only general ones such as those associated with CO2 emissions, but also difficulties inherent to the sector such as the recycling of diesel particulate filters. The only way to overcome these obstacles is to invest in research and then to bet with conviction until reaching an innovative solution accepted by the market.
This is exactly the case with Metal 78, whose mission is to recover PGMs from end of life automotive catalysts and also from SiC filter, thanks to a disruptive recycling technology. This technology is entirely based on a hydrometallurgical process that doesn’t require the use of furnaces. In this talk the main benefits of this technology will be introduced.

Mike Belton returned to Alfred H. Knight in the role of Group Chairperson in January, 2019. He is the Founder and Senior Consultant of TICC LLC which provides advisory services to a broad range of investor entities including Private Equity funds and Family Offices. He also Chairs a South African business, SAFETY SA, which is owned by the Carlyle Africa fund.
Mike has spend 30+ years in technical and executive roles in the Testing and Inspection sector with a focus on Mining, Minerals Processing and Metals Production. Through this period he has been an active member of IPMI and has presented a number of papers at IPMI conferences. In 2015 he was awarded a Lifetime Silver Membership of IPMI to recognize his work as the Founding President of the IPMI Europe Chapter.

Mining the Economy Circular 
Primary supply of PGM is expected to decline over the next 5 years while recycling streams are set to pick up pace. The medium to long term uncertainty of the autocatalyst market raises the question of whether producers will choose to add more capacity or choose to diversify in other critical minerals and circular economy markets.
Drivers such as the electrification of transport and the production of Lithium Ion Batteries will produce unprecedented demand for Co, Ni, Li, Mn and considerable supply deficits are expected over the next 5-10 years even when accounting secondary streams of new projects in the pipeline.
As it stands the supply chains for these commodities are considered high risk from a political, environmental and operational point of view. A move to a more circular economy needs to accelerate in order to lift the pressure from the existing supply chains and also diversify the highly regionally concentrated value chains we see today
We review how battery recycling and specifically “Black Mass” could relieve the pressure to acquire new minerals and maintain the stock of critical metals within a closed loop.

Dr Philipp Walter is a chemist by education and received a PhD from the University of Freiburg, Germany. He held several management positions in the chemical industry in new business development, marketing, sales and business management in Norway, USA, Switzerland and Germany. He joint Heraeus in 2016 and is now leading Innovation and New Business Development for Heraeus Precious Metals. Philipp is based at the Heraeus’ Headquarters in Hanau, Germany. 

Iridium and the Hydrogen Economy
Hydrogen is a pivotal contributor to the path of climate protection and sustainability. PEM Electrolysis is a prominent technology to generate Green Hydrogen from water with renewable energy and requires Platinum and Iridium Catalysts. Precious Metals such as Platinum and Iridium are scarce metals of high value. Hence, sustainability of the whole H2-economy requires that the loadings of precious metals are carefully considered with respect to long-term availability of metals and the cost for PEM electrolysis. We present on latest development concerning catalysts for PEM Electrolysis, allowing for significant reduction of precious metals loadings and for increasing competitiveness of PEM Electrolyzers. Based on these latest developments and efficient concepts for recycling of such catalysts, Green Hydrogen by means of PEM Electrolysis will be a sustainable tool for decarbonization and climate protection – now and in the future. 

Ruth Leland - After graduating with a degree in Public Relations, I joined BOC on the Commercial Graduate programmes. I held a wide variety of roles through supply chain, business development, communications and sales. I progressed through Commercial and Sales Management roles specialising in Key Customer Management, Commercial Excellence and Sales Training. Finally, I ran the Fluorochemicals business, sourcing and selling regulated products heavily driven by legislation and managing a full recycling offer. After leaving BOC I joined JM, responsible for Sales and Marketing of Refining and Chemical products as well Customer Service. I then managed the Refining business globally before becoming the Sales and Marketing Director for EMEA where I am now. I have responsibility for the Refining, Chemical Products and Industrial Products businesses as well our Customer Service teams. I am also involved in the Women in PGMS group where I am keen to support the growth and development of Women in the Industry.

Sustainable Product Development and the Role of Recycling
The total supply chain, from raw materials and design, through to end of life and reuse, forms part of the sustainable credentials of a product. With more and more scrutiny being placed on each step of the supply chain and life cycle of a product, recycling is no longer the last step. Design to refine and the provision of recycled raw materials is fundamental to product development. This presentation looks at the role of recycling throughout the various stages of the product life cycle and how design to refine is shaping technology and supply chains.

Jenny Watts leads SFA (Oxford)’s demand research team. She has a wide-ranging technical background, with significant industrial experience from developing new products in the lab to troubleshooting on the plant in Europe and in the U.S. Jenny and the SFA team are responsible for evaluating and forecasting the automotive and industrial markets for the strategic metals. This includes assessing how technological shifts, legislative changes and environmental issues will help to develop or place at risk the markets for these strategic metals over the short, medium and long term.

Green hydrogen – drivers and markets
Decarbonisation of much of human activity is going to be increasingly important as we seek to limit global warming. There are legally binding and specific targets helping to drive adoption. Hydrogen can play a significant part in several sectors. But the vast majority of hydrogen today is made from hydrocarbon sources, with associated carbon dioxide emissions. Green hydrogen, made via electrolysis of water and using renewable energy, is especially relevant for energy-intensive applications and in markets where emissions are hard to abate.

Oliver Krestin was appointed Managing Director of Hensel Recycling in 2013, having previously been employed within the company as Executive Vice President and Business Development Manager. Before Joining Hensel Recycling, he held various senior roles at Degussa AG, Deutschen Edelmetall Recycling AG, and Johnson Matthey. Oliver holds a degree from the Bertha Heraeus Business School. He is a member of the IPMI Board of directors and was IPMI President 2019-2020

Closing the recycling gap within open loop refining
At the heart of a circular economy is the reduction in process waste, re use and effective recycling supply chains. To fully make this happen within the Precious Metals Recycling market the industry needs to review metal losses within the “open loop” refining market. This presentation will review the differences between open loop and closed looped markets, mechanisms for metal losses and some potential ways to reduce these losses keeping as much metal within the overall supply chain

Jonathan Butler is Head of Business Development at Mitsubishi Corporation. Based in London, Jon specialises in the sales and marketing of platinum group metals, silver and gold as well as leading Mitsubishi’s precious metals research and strategy. Jon works closely with the refining industry and key end users in the automotive, pharmaceutical and fine chemical sectors and is closely involved with Mitsubishi’s new market development and investment in the hydrogen industry. Jon previously worked in various marketing and research roles at Johnson Matthey, and holds a PhD and Masters Degrees in earth sciences from the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. He is a Board and Executive Member of the IPMI, and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Platinum Group Metals Refining Council as well as on the LBMA Public Affairs Committee.

PGM supply and demand overview and the future of PGMs in the automotive industry
This presentation will explore supply, demand and price developments in the platinum, palladium and rhodium markets over the past two years and take a look over the horizon to the next several years. In particular, it will focus on the constraints in mining output, and the dynamics of both end of life vehicle recycling and new automotive PGM demand in the light of the triple challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the automotive semiconductor shortage and the increasing move towards electrification. The longer term impact of automotive electrification is mixed for the three PGM markets, though the prospects for platinum in the wider hydrogen industry in the next decade are much more positive.

Aleksei Kornienko - Head of Project Engineering at Krastsvetmet, a Russian PGM refiner. The international business relations graduate has been leading several projects in the precious metals industry for over 16 years. With a core focus on investment analysis, precious metals sales, tolling operations and technology engineering. Streamlined logistics, customs clearance procedures and hedging operations with EU and US clients; managed government affairs and legislation change in Russia; led technology supply and contract R&D in India and China.