EU awards €7.3mn grant to titanium consortium

The EU has awarded a combined €7.3mn ($8.1mn) to 13 companies under its REPTiS project, for the responsible extraction and processing of titanium and other primary raw materials for sourcing EU industrial value chains and strategic sectors. The firms will have to use the grant to demonstrate the viability of titanium extraction, processing and deployment in the EU through a partnership with Ukraine.

The project is funded under the EU's Horizon Europe programme and is due to run for four years, with a slated end date of 31 August 2028. The project will be co-ordinated by trade group the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA), with other key participants including Ukrainian titanium producer Velta and global aerospace manufacturer GKN Aerospace. The majority of the funding is earmarked for Velta and the EPMA. Other recipients include companies specialising in metal injection moulding and additive manufacturing, research centres and universities, although the current allocation of funding does not account for the entire €7.3mn budget.

The aim of the project is to demonstrate solutions for extracting and processing titanium across the value chain — including open-pit ilmenite ore mining at Velta's Byrzulivske deposit — and the production of low-carbon titanium powder and use of other technologies including additive manufacturing and metal injection moulding.

The collaboration will focus on areas such as energy efficiency and environmental impact, titanium powder production and final product manufacturing. For example, Sweden's University West will manufacture an aerospace demonstrator component, defined by GKN, using powder bed fusion additive manufacturing and titanium powder from Velta. Other final products include medical implants and watch casings.

A life-cycle assessment will be conducted from raw material extraction to final products, to assess the difference between methods used under the REPTiS project compared with conventional practices.

"The substantial funding for our consortium project underscores the EU's recognition of Ukraine as a strategic partner — one capable of establishing a secure titanium supply chain from raw materials to final titanium products, which are critical globally," Velta chief executive Andriy Brodsky said.

Ukrainian state-owned property fund SPFU manages various titanium assets in Ukraine and it has been pushing for international investment into the country's titanium industry. One of SPFU's key assets is titanium minerals mining firm UMCC, which manages and operates the Vilnohirsk and Irshansk mining and ore processing complexes. UMCC is set to be auctioned on 9 October.

By Samuel Wood