UK scientists eye dormant volcano juice to extract battery metals, energy

Researchers at Oxford University in the UK are studying a dormant volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat.

The team isn’t keen to determine when the volcano will erupt next. Instead, they are more interested in geofluids that flow below dormant volcanoes and are confident in extracting critical battery metals and energy from them.

The modern world is built with metals that were once located below the surface of the Earth. Through practices extending hundreds of years, we have perfected methods to extract these metals from their ores and use them for our benefit. However, this process is energy-intensive and polluting.

Estimates suggest that the mining and metals industry is responsible for four to seven percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Just as we are looking to phase out fossil fuels, we also need to look for ways to reduce emissions from mining operations.

A team led by Jonathan Blundy, a professor in the Earth Sciences department at the University of Oxford, is studying a dormant volcano in the Caribbean to find a more sustainable way to extract metals from the volcanoes.

A solution for the metal mining problem

Mining operations have provided us with the abundant metals that make up our modern world. These operations are conventionally located at the roots of once- active volcanoes , which churned metals and rocks to the surface many millennia ago.

Even today, plumes of active volcanoes are rich in metals such as copper, lithium, and even gold. However, it is more complicated to harvest them for these metals. The lava from the volcano must also cool down to rock again before it becomes a mining site.

Through Oxford’s ReSET program , the researchers are looking for ways to avoid the energy-intensive mining of metals from their ores and extracting them directly from the volcano instead.

Accessing geofluids under the volcanoes

Geofluids are fluids that flow below dormant volcanoes and are rich in metals. Tapping into these geofluids gives one access to metals in their liquid form. An additional benefit of the approach is the ability to generate geothermal energy as a by-product.

In recent years, geothermal energy has increasingly become an important component of the green energy mix. While the technology works well a few hundred feet below the ground, access to the heat under the volcano can deliver higher amounts of energy than ever before.

The Oxford team at Montserrat is busy digging holes into the ground around the volcano to determine the right approach. They hope their research will serve as a blueprint for other volcano sites and be replicated worldwide.

The technology is still in its infancy, though. The researchers are aware that they won’t likely reap its benefits in their own lifetimes, they told The Independent . They are nevertheless pushing for the technology to be developed since it can also help deliver minerals like lithium that are driving the green energy transition.

Additionally, the fluids that will be brought to the surface will also be sent back into the ground, making mining much cleaner and greener.

The ReSet team is not just a bunch of geologists working at a volcano but also consists of chemists, historians, lawyers, and economists keen to develop a sustainable and equitable way to harness power and resources from volcanoes.