NALCO Advances Rare Earth Recovery From Fly Ash and Red Mud

19 Aug 2026, 10:06 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

A new industrial-residue processing facility in Bhubaneswar is set to test whether materials that have traditionally been treated as waste can be converted into sources of alumina, industrial minerals and rare earth elements, including scandium.

National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, inaugurated an indigenous pilot plant at its NALCO Research & Technology Centre (NRTC) on August 18 for processing bituminous coal fly ash and recovering multiple value-added products. The initiative is being developed as part of the company’s broader research push around industrial-residue utilisation and critical mineral recovery.

The pilot facility can process 50 kg of fly ash per day. It has been designed and established by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT) and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), with support from NALCO, CSIR and the Ministry of Mines. The technology is based on a jointly patented process developed by CSIR-IMMT and NALCO for the holistic utilisation of coal fly ash.

The process is designed to separate several useful materials from the ash stream. These include alumina, calcium silicate intended for ceramic applications, quartz residue with potential use in glassmaking, and an iron hydroxide residue enriched with rare earth elements, including scandium.

The facility was inaugurated by NALCO Chairman and Managing Director Brijendra Pratap Singh at the NRTC in Bhubaneswar. NALCO Director (Projects & Technical) Jagdish Arora, Director (HR) Tapas Kumar Pattanayak and Director (Commercial) Anil Kumar Singh were present, along with CSIR-IMMT Director Ramanuj Narayan, KIIT Registrar Jnyana Ranjan Mohanty and senior officials from NALCO, CSIR-IMMT and KIIT.

The development is accompanied by a separate initiative targeting another major residue of the aluminium industry. A ground-breaking ceremony was held for a proposed pilot plant to valorise bauxite residue, commonly known as red mud. Unlike the fly ash facility, this proposed plant is intended to recover ferro-titanium alloy, metallic iron and rare earth elements from red mud.

The two projects place industrial waste streams at the centre of NALCO’s research strategy. Alumina is the principal feedstock for aluminium production as well as an important industrial raw material, while rare earth elements are increasingly important for strategic and high-technology applications such as permanent magnets, electric mobility, renewable energy, electronics and defence. Recovering these materials from secondary resources could improve resource efficiency, supplement primary sources and create additional value from industrial residues.

According to CSIR-IMMT Director Ramanuj Narayan, the pilot plant is intended to demonstrate that industrial residues can serve as another source of useful materials instead of being viewed solely as waste. He said the approach could create an additional resource stream for strategically important minerals and metals.

The fly ash facility is also expected to produce sufficient quantities of rare-earth-element concentrate for further research into the recovery and separation of mixed rare earths. That work is expected to support the development of downstream value-added products and help establish integrated recovery routes for critical minerals.

For NALCO, the immediate objective is to establish whether indigenous technology can move beyond laboratory research and demonstrate its viability at pilot scale. Singh said such validation is a necessary step towards commercially viable technologies that can improve resource efficiency, strengthen critical mineral security and advance the circular economy.

The company said its wider research programme is being pursued through collaborations with leading national research institutions and pilot-scale testing of emerging technologies. The stated focus is on developing scalable and commercially viable resource-recovery pathways aligned with India’s priorities in critical mineral security, circular economy and sustainable industrial development.