Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung GmbH (SZMF), a subsidiary of Salzgitter, has launched Project KLASSE to recover strategic metals such as vanadium and manganese from steel mill slag. Traditionally used as a low-value construction material or landfilled, slag contains essential raw materials that this project intends to recycle.

By combining new "cold" processing with direct reduction, SZMF aims to selectively separate these metals for reuse in steel production.

This way uses significantly less energy than conventional melting methods. Besides metal recovery, the project plans to utilize remaining mineral fractions for high-quality construction applications.

Funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the three-year project is expected to reduce import dependencies and transform slag from a byproduct into a sustainable resource for the industry.