Mineral resource life cycle - Critical metals

Faced with increasing pressure on mineral resources, the team is taking a circular economy approach to rethinking all the stages in their life cycle, and in particular critical metals, i.e. metals that are strategic for technologies linked to the environmental transition.

Supporting mining activity

Through its leadership of a joint international and interdisciplinary IRD laboratory: Responsible Mining Activities in Morocco, the team is helping mining stakeholders to adopt more responsible extraction and post-mining management practices, with a particular focus on the issue of the post-mining period (reclamation of mine tailings, restoration of abandoned sites, economic conversion of regions, etc.). The creation of an international OHM (CNRS, INEE) is currently being considered in Morocco, to support the work of structuring the players involved in the LMI. In addition, the Lebanese observatory (GDRi Sud O-Life) is in the process of being renewed and will, among other things, enable the development of low-cost sensors for monitoring the impact of quarrying.

Soft extraction processes for critical metals

A major lever for reducing pressure on primary resources is the exploitation of industrial and urban waste and end-of-life products (secondary sources). To this end, we are developing bio-inspired processes for the selective extraction of critical metals based on the natural processes by which these metals are transferred to living organisms (bacteria and plants). In addition to characterising the molecules involved in biological transfer and their use in extraction processes, a major objective is to quantify the sobriety of the processes developed compared with traditional hydrometallurgical processes, in collaboration with economists. 

Collective scientific expertise on the responsible use of rare earths

On 14 November 2025, the CNRS released a collective scientific report on the responsible use of rare earths. The aim was to take stock of scientific knowledge and identify ways of reducing France's dependence on these critical metals, which are ubiquitous in our everyday lives. 

The group of 30 researchers was co-directed by Clément Levard and studied a corpus of over 4,000 scientific publications.

Find out more: https://www.cnrs.fr/fr/actualite/terres-rares-et-souverainete-nationale-lequation-impossible