Together with his current business partner Stijn van Zelst, Gijsbert ran an engineering firm that helped companies with complex technical issues. One of these was in the mining sector in South Africa. Gijsbert recounts: “A client had access to a specific ore containing vanadium. They wanted to extract that vanadium from the ore. They asked us to investigate whether an alternative was possible to the traditional processes that consume a lot of energy, require high temperatures, and are polluting. We found that solution in hydrometallurgy, a process in which valuable metals are extracted from ores or scrap and purified using aqueous solutions. Incidentally, that specific project was not developed any further by the client, mainly due to power shortages in South Africa. But we had gained valuable knowledge about vanadium, a metal we had never even heard of before.”
The move towards urban mining
Gijsbert continues: “With our consultancy, we also worked for a large family business in the Netherlands. We had previously helped that company with the installation of scrubber systems. Vanadium also turned out to be present in the particles captured by the scrubbers. In concentrations comparable to those in the ores we had previously investigated in South Africa. That was when the idea of urban mining really started to take hold. Waste processors are paid to dispose of it, even though it contains valuable metals. Then we thought: this is interesting, can we do something with this? Are there any more sources of industrial residual streams containing vanadium?” That idea ultimately led to the founding of Phoenix Metals, an innovative enterprise that recovers metals from steel slag. The company developed a process that enables vanadium, amongst other things, to be extracted: a strategic raw material for strong steel and for the next generation of sustainable batteries. In addition to vanadium, iron, calcium, magnesium and manganese are also recovered for various industrial applications. Gijsbert: “That multiple yield makes the model economically more attractive than many traditional recycling processes. We are not only recovering the vanadium, we are developing a solution in which the entire material stream creates value. That means multiple revenue streams, better utilisation of raw materials and a higher economic value per tonne of processed material.”
A European ecosystem
An important part of future value creation lies in the battery market. Phoenix Metals produces vanadium electrolyte, a crucial raw material for vanadium flow batteries. These batteries are seen as a promising solution for large-scale energy storage for grid operators, industrial clusters, data centres and renewable energy projects. “Whilst lithium-ion batteries dominate the mobility sector, flow batteries offer advantages for stationary storage,” explains Gijsbert. “They are non-flammable, have a long service life and are fully recyclable. This makes them well-suited to meeting Europe’s need for safe and sustainable storage capacity. Vanadium batteries are already being manufactured in various European countries. At present, 95% of the vanadium required is still imported, mainly from China. Extracting vanadium in Europe presents an interesting opportunity to build up our own value chain. The energy transition and geopolitical developments have made this value chain particularly relevant. Dutch steel slag alone contains enough vanadium to meet around a third of European demand. That potential makes our business case an attractive proposition.”
Opportunities for North Holland
For North Holland, these developments offer plenty of opportunities according to Gijsbert. “The region has a unique combination of steel industry, chemical expertise, logistic infrastructure and technical talent. Furthermore, the raw materials upon which our business model is based are located here. The planned pilot plant will be in the IJmond region and a future commercial factory could also be established in North Holland. That can attract a completely new industrial ecosystem. If you produce the electrolyte for batteries here, it becomes logical for other parts of the chain to settle in the region as well.” The factory can generate new employment. In addition, Gijsbert sees opportunities for collaboration with educational institutions, Techport and companies from the region. “We are keen to jointly build up knowledge and train people, such as operators and battery specialists.”
The power of a party that thinks along with you
Until that time, there are still some hurdles to overcome. Like many other deep-tech companies, the biggest challenge for Phoenix Metals is attracting capital. “We are in a capital-intensive sector. Investors find it interesting, but often want to see proof first that everything works on a larger scale. That is preceded by years of research, subsidy applications, pilots and making concessions on your own income for a long time. Then it is nice when you have a party like ROM InWest who takes a strong look at the commercial side of your enterprise. They actively brainstorm about scaling up, strategy and regional cooperation, for example with issues surrounding business locations, permits and industrial development. With the guidance from ROM InWest, we have been able to further refine our business case. For example, we took part in meetings such as the Green Chemistry Accelerator and the GCNE network of entrepreneurs, investors and relevant collaborative partners within the industry.”
