Specialists at the Seversk TPP, part of Rosatom Infrastructure Solutions (RIR), have developed a new method for processing coal ash waste. The technology extracts iron-containing concentrate of commercial quality directly from the byproducts of coal-fired power plants.
Previous attempts to extract iron from ash faced challenges with purity, as mineral impurities remained in the concentrate. By optimizing hydrodynamic separation and magnetic separation, the team achieved the complete removal of these impurities, improving upon the 92% purity level recorded in 2025.
The resulting material is comparable to raw iron ore. Since the coal combustion process at power plants already reduces the iron to microscopic particles, the method eliminates the need for energy-intensive crushing and grinding, potentially making the concentrate cheaper than traditional mined ore.
The technology uses a modular experimental setup designed for deployment directly at coal ash dumps. Rosatom plans to prioritize regions such as Siberia, the Urals, and the Far East, where coal-fired plants have operated for decades, to process both fresh waste and long-term stockpiles.
