The core fundamentals of metal refining have barely shifted in a century. A team wants to rewrite them from scratch

The underlying science behind modern metal extraction has changed very little from what metallurgists generations ago would recognize. Over the past century and more, innovations including Bessemer steelmaking, flash smelting, electric arc furnaces, and continuous casting have lifted the upper limits of the entire industry, enabling larger process capacities and more intelligent control systems. But the basic chemistry that separates metals from ore has evolved far less than many people assume.

The problems the industry faces have shifted, however. Electrification, data centers, aerospace, water treatment, energy systems, and national defense are all driving steep rises in demand for mineral resources. Antoine Allanore, a professor of metallurgy at MIT, points out that many Western economies have simultaneously scaled back their domestic processing capacity for the metals these industries rely on. Today, metal extraction is no longer just calculated based on cost and availability—it also requires accounting for carbon footprint, origin, and supply chain resilience.

Chromium is a typical example. It is used in high-temperature and extreme environments, featured extensively in aerospace, power generation, corrosion-resistant infrastructure, and defense technologies. Outokumpu states that the carbon footprint of its ferrochromium products is 67% lower than the industry average. The company has developed the EvoMaterials initiative to overhaul the chemical pathways used for metal extraction.

EvoMaterials starts with sulfation processing technology, with its initial goal of cutting carbon emissions from ferrochromium production. Lab tests show this alternative chemical pathway can deliver far more benefits than just emission reductions: it can recover valuable metals from low-grade resources and industrial side streams, fundamentally transforming the separation process itself. Caspar Stinn, Director of Extractive Metallurgy Technology at Outokumpu, says the team wants to break free of current constraints and re-evaluate the optimal process pathways using modern scientific and engineering knowledge.

Traditional routes rely on carbon and massive amounts of energy to separate metals. According to Allanore, the new method creates a distinct chemical environment that delivers higher extraction efficiency, lower material loss, fewer unwanted byproducts, and the ability to recover critical materials from resources previously written off as waste.

Image credit: Outokumpu

Development work first launched in the US in 2021, targeting chromite ore from the Kemi mine in Finland. The Kemi mine is the only chromium mine in the EU, and one of very few such operations across the Western world. Outokumpu has since advanced the technology through R&D, combining new process chemistry with proprietary metallurgical expertise, supported by a non-exclusive patent licensing agreement with MIT.

EvoMaterials is positioned as a full technology platform. Once the extraction pathway for one material system is fully mapped, the same core scientific principles can be transferred to other metals and mineral resources. Its initial use cases are only the starting point. Allanore believes its potential future impact will extend far beyond its current development scope.

The next step is pilot validation. The pilot plant in New Hampshire is scheduled to go live in the first half of 2027, scaling the technology from lab scale to 1-ton production batches, with a target of full industrial-scale deployment by 2030. Its outputs will include low-CO₂ high-chromium ferrochromium and chromium metal, and the platform can be adapted for strategic materials including nickel and molybdenum.

The core question remains: if you were designing a metal extraction process completely from scratch today, how many of the existing traditional processes would still turn out the way they look now?

This article was compiled based on sponsored content from Outokumpu, and the MIT Technology Review editorial team did not participate in its reporting or writing. For more information, visit Outokumpu's EvoMaterials page, or watch the recorded conversation between Caspar Stinn and Antoine Allanore.