Peter Tom Jones

Jones is the Director of the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM²), an interdisciplinary team of more than 400 researchers focusing on the exploration, extraction, processing, refining and recycling of the energy-transition metals that are essential for a sustainable society. Jones has been working in this field for over 20 years, since completing his PhD in Metallurgy at KU Leuven in 2001. Jones is also the co-founder of KU Leuven’s SOLVOMET Research & Innovation Centre, a platform that provides (circular) hydrometallurgy expertise to industrial partners. Through SIM² KU Leuven and SOLVOMET, Jones has been a coordinator or partner in more than 30 EU-funded projects on sustainable metallurgy and critical raw materials (CRMs). Additionally, Jones is the author of several books on the transition to a climate-neutral, circular economy (e.g., Terra Incognita (2006), Klimaatcrisis (2009), Terra Reversa (2009 & 2016)…) and presenter of documentaries focusing on made-in-Europe mine-to-cleantech value chains (e.g., Responsible mining in Europe (2022), Made in Europe: from mine to Electric Vehicle (2023), The Sami Perspective (2024), Europe’s Mining Renaissance (2024), Europe’s Lithium Paradox (forthcoming, 2025)).