IDENER.AI, together with Cobre las Cruces (CLC), co-hosted and led the 2^nd Review Meeting of the European METALLICO project, held in Seville, Spain, on 19-20 January 2026. The meeting covered project progress from months 19 to 36 to the European Commission’s Project Officer and an external reviewer, successfully defending the consortium´s advancements in sustainable battery metals recovery.

As project coordinator (WP8), IDENER.AI’s role consisted of moderating technical discussions, organising the event, and outlining the roadmap for the final project stages. This included leading key negotiations with EU representatives on timeline extensions and budget optimisations. Moreover, as technical leader of WP2, IDENER.AI presented the latest updates to the project’s digital tools, including process modelling and techno-economic calculations supporting pilot engineering design and sustainability assessments.

Some of the key highlights of this milestone, the consortium and EU reviewers toured the hydrometallurgical plant, open pit mine, analytical laboratories, and the operational TAILCO pilot plant. Moreover, CRUZ confirmed the high reactivity of the COOL+ leaching residue as an alkali activator for the cement industry, validating its circular economy potential. Regarding dissemination, mining forum videos surpassed 37,000 views, and the METALLICO podcast is now live on Spotify. Overall, the meeting yielded positive feedback from the European Commission and critical technical insights, marking a pivotal milestone for the project.