Varsities, innovators turn mining waste into agric input
Universities and research institutions are intensifying efforts to convert mining waste into valuable agricultural inputs—a shift that could redefine resource efficiency and strengthen food security across Africa. This momentum reflects
Universities and research institutions are intensifying efforts to convert mining waste into valuable agricultural inputs—a shift that could redefine resource efficiency and strengthen food security across Africa.
This momentum reflects a growing coalition of researchers, universities and clean-technology entrepreneurs seeking to transform stockpiles of phosphate residues and other mining tailings—long treated as environmental liabilities—into a potential multi-million-dollar fertiliser and animal feed industry.
At the forefront is Morocco’s University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P), where scientists at the Geology & Sustainable Mining Institute are advancing technologies that convert phosphate mining residues into fertilisers and animal feed. The work underscores a broader continental shift toward aligning extractive industries with circular economy principles. In an interview, researcher Zouhir Balagh explained that the breakthrough lies in rethinking what has traditionally been discarded as waste.
According to him, these residues still contain valuable nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus—critical elements for agriculture and animal nutrition. Balagh described a multi-stage chemical process that extracts and refines these elements into usable products.
“We first treat the material with phosphoric acid, which dissolves the valuable part of the waste into a solution. Then, by carefully adjusting the chemistry in stages, we recover calcium first, then magnesium, and finally the remaining phosphorus. These are transformed into brushite, struvite, and hydroxyapatite — products that can be used respectively in animal feed and fertilizer applications,” he said.
For decades, tailings and residues have been treated primarily as liabilities, requiring costly storage and management. However, researchers now argued that such materials could hold the key to unlocking new value chains. “I think this shift is very important. Instead of asking only how to manage residues efficiently, we can also ask how to recover value from it. This is not just about waste reduction — it is about resource efficiency,” Balagh noted. According to him, the innovation is part of a growing movement to reposition mining waste as a secondary resource rather than an environmental burden.
Morocco, which holds the majority of the world’s known phosphate reserves, is uniquely positioned to lead this transition.
According to Balagh, the country’s advantage is no longer just about the scale of its deposits, but how efficiently it uses them. “The opportunity is not only in extracting phosphate, but also in using phosphate-related resources more completely and more efficiently. By transforming those wastes into agricultural inputs, we extend the usefulness of the resource beyond the primary extraction stage,” he said. The GSMI team has already moved beyond laboratory experiments to pilot-scale demonstrations, confirming that the process can be replicated under more realistic operating conditions. “This is no longer just a laboratory idea — it is a process that has already shown its potential under larger-scale operating conditions,” Balagh said.
He however, acknowledged that scaling up remains the next major hurdle. “The next challenge is industrial deployment: integrating the process into existing operations, optimising reagent consumption and recycling, confirming long-term operational stability, and demonstrating economic competitiveness at continuous scale,” he explained. He believes Africa’s scientific future depends on tackling practical, often overlooked problems. “Very often, the most important scientific opportunities are hidden in what people have stopped questioning — waste that keeps accumulating, resources that are underused.
In Nigeria, a lot of efforts have been accomplished under the £7 million RECIRCULATE Project, led by Lancaster University, UK in partnership with University of Benin to promote a circular water economy across Africa. At the University of Benin, researchers are combining cattle rumen content and food waste to produce sustainable biogas, further demonstrating how waste streams can be repurposed into valuable resources. Elsewhere, researchers are exploring how mine waste can be reused as a delivery agent for phosphorus in fertilisers, offering a circular approach that reduces environmental hazards and lowers production costs. Michael Reading of Southern Cross University in Australia noted that such innovations could enhance plant growth while cutting fertiliser expenses.
