Altamin secures grant for research on critical minerals from geothermal brine in Italy
Lago di Martignano, Lazio, Italy (source: Tulumnes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Carlo Cariaga
22 Sep 2025
Altamin with project partners has secured a EUR 2 million grant for a critical minerals from geothermal research project at the Lazio license area in Italy.
Australian mining firm Altamin has announced a grant from Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) for a research on the extraction of critical raw minerals from geothermal brine, to be done at the company’s Lazio license area at Cesano in Italy. The project is being done in partnership with RINA SpA (RINA) and the University of L’Aquila (UNIVAQ).
The research project, called “Geothermal Brines for Innovative Supply of Critical Raw Material” (BRAIN), was submitted under the Mission Innovation 2.0 call issued by the MASE. Of the total expenditures of EUR 2.825 million qualified under Mission Innovation 2.0, a total of EUR 2.027 million will be refundable in aggregate to the project partners.
The BRAIN project seeks to test scale-up an innovative process to demonstrate the feasibility of producing commercial-grade Sulphate of Potash (SOP), lithium, and boron using a geothermal energy-powered pathway. The funding will also cover a full Environmental Impact Assessment and a Life Cycle Assessment, further boosting the sustainability credentials of the Lazio project.
After having applied for the Lazio license area back in 2022, recommendations made by Italian engineering firm Steam S.r.l. led to the decision to apply for an extension of the license area.
Source: Altamin via ASX Disclosure
