Strategic Development
Summary
Led by Maxwell Meju, professor of applied geophysics, the SDS work package provides structured decision support for CAMM-CRM’s management and board. Its role is to anticipate future needs, explore new avenues of research, and propose strategic actions beyond the current work plan—helping the center remain flexible and aligned with its long-term goals.
The Strategic Development Support (SDS) working group serves as a forward-looking mechanism that continuously connects ideas generated within the CRM Arena and develops them into well-defined research activities.
Key Areas of Work
SDS focuses on three main areas:
- New research pillars – Conducting feasibility studies to evaluate new themes of high relevance to critical raw materials. This includes assessing the significance of CRM, the current state of research, potential collaborations, upstream and downstream technologies, and opportunities to leverage external funding.
- Strategic recruitment – Mapping skills gaps and identifying opportunities to attract expertise not currently available within CAMM-CRM or Luleå University of Technology.
- Research Infrastructure Requirements – Identify and prioritize investments needed to strengthen LTU’s capacity for advanced CRM research.
Through these efforts, SDS plays a crucial role in ensuring that CAMM-CRM continues to develop strategically—by building the expertise, partnerships, and infrastructure required to maintain Sweden’s leading position in research on sustainable raw materials.
Ongoing projects
Approved seed projects for 2026
CAMM-CRM will fund seven seed projects under the 2026 call for seed funding.
The call aimed to strengthen research in critical raw materials (CRM) and support new initiatives with high potential for future external funding. The selected projects will contribute to these goals.
The following projects have been awarded funding:
- Lab-scale experiment and numerical modeling of blasting fragmentation of graphite (Graphfrag) – Project Leader: Daniel Johansson – Funding: 961,523 SEK
- Mitigation And Partitioning of PFAS in Critical Raw Material Recycling Processes (MAP-PFAS-CRM) – Project Leader: Ivan Carabante – Funding: 642,152 SEK
- Biomining of rare earth elements towards a circular economy (BioREEMINE) – Project Leader: Io Antonopoulou – Funding: 996,900 SEK
- Evaluating the potential of nanoparticle- and colloid-bound scandium and rare earths in boreal rivers and streams as prospection/exploration tools (SciREE) – Project Leader: Sarah Conrad – Funding: 976,569 SEK
- Meteor impact-controlled CRM mineralization in Västerbotten (IMPACT) – Project Leader: Thorkild M. Rasmussen – Funding: 715,000 SEK
- Digital Stability Charting for Rapid and Risk-Informed Mine Design in Critical Raw Material Extraction (DiStab-CRM) – Project Leader: Yang Zou – Funding: 800,000 SEK
- Sustainable Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Mining Wastewater and Urban Runoff Streams Using Microalgal Systems (BioREEcover) – Project Leader: Alok Kumar Patel – Funding: 750,000 SEK
All projects will begin on June 1, 2026, and run for seven months. The call for proposals generated significant interest, reflecting the growing importance of research on sustainable critical raw materials.
Current projects
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Graphfrag - Lab-scale experiment and numerical modelling of blasting fragmentation of graphite
Graphite is a critical raw material essential for battery and high-technology applications. However, graphite-bearing rocks exhibit low strength, strong foliation, high friability and electrically conductive carbon phases that significantly alter blasting performance.
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Mitigation And Partitioning of PFAS in Critical Raw Material Recycling Processes MAP-PFAS-CRM
Environmental contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may pose emerging challenges for the sustainable recycling of critical raw materials (CRMs), particularly in complex waste streams such as lithium-ion battery black mass, WEEE fractions, and combustion ashes.
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Biomining of rare earth elements towards a circular economy (BioREEMINE)
BioREEMINE explores the potential of novel proteins and peptides for their ability to extract and separate rare earth elements (REEs) under mild conditions.
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SciREE: Evaluating the potential of nanoparticle- and colloid-bound scandium and rare earths in boreal rivers and streams as prospection/exploration tools
Critical raw materials are essential for Europe’s green and digital transitions, yet domestic exploration strategies require further development. This pilot project investigates hydrogeochemical relationships between scandium (Sc) and rare earth elements (REE) in boreal shield catchments to evaluate...
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Meteor impact-controlled CRM mineralisation in Västerbotten – IMPACT
The Lycksele Ring with a diameter of 125 km is an enigmatic structure in Västerbotten that was proposed more than 40 years ago to represent the remnant of a meteor impact. This proposal has never been confirmed.
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Digital Stability Charting for Rapid and Risk-Informed Mine Design in Critical Raw Material Extraction (DiStab-CRM)
Deep underground extraction of critical raw materials requires rapid and reliable design decisions under limited and evolving geomechanical information. Conventional stability graph methods remain valuable in preliminary mine design, but their practical use is still largely manual, static, and weak ...
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Sustainable Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Mining Wastewater and Urban Runoff Streams Using Microalgal Systems (BioREEcover)
The BioREEcover project aims to develop a sustainable biotechnology-based strategy for selective recovery of rare earth elements (REEs, lanthanides) from Swedish mining wastewater, road runoff, and stormwater from large industrial areas. REEs are strategic critical raw materials underpinning renewab...
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