EUROPEAN INNOVATION PARTNSHIP ON RAW MATERIALS MEETING OF OPERATIONAL GROUPS On Thursday 14th April the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials Operational Groups meeting took place at the Plaza Hotel in Brussels. During this one day-meeting, several projects and initiatives have been presented during plenary and parallel sessions, including the MICA project introduction followed by a round table debate. The Mineral Intelligence Capacity Analysis (MICA) project was introduced by Lorenz Erdmann, Coordinator at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research and leader of the MICA WP2 “Stakeholder needs”, at the Operational Group Knowledge Base. As highlighted, the projects main goal is to provide stakeholders with the best possible information, in a seamless and flexible way using an ontology-based platform European Union Raw Materials Intelligence Capacity Platform (EU-RMICP). The platform will be able to respond to the specific raw material knowledge needs of stakeholders. MICA will last 26 months involving 16 partners and 15 linked third parties (all Geological Surveys). Most importantly, MICA’s contribution was introduced to the EIP Strategic Implementation Plan: MICA will combine the available data and knowledge on raw material sources (including recycling) and make them easily accessible. Intelligence is a first requirement in order to reduce import dependency, diversify raw material sourcing, to find alternatives for (critical) raw materials and to put Europe at the forefront in the raw materials sector. Therefore MICA represents an important step to fulfil one of the Strategic Implementation Plan’s (SIP’s) targets: “European raw materials knowledge base with information, flows and dynamic modelling system for primary and secondary raw materials”. Several potential areas of cooperation between MICA and other projects (MIN-guide, MINLEX, MINATURA2020, JRC RMIS) were also presented to ensure that the projects complement one another. Questions such “Can one project be so inclusive to cover...

PRESS RELEASE RAW MATERIALS INTELLIGENCE TO SERVE STAKEHOLDERS NEEDS 4 February Primary and secondary Raw Materials are essential to Europe’s economy and growth. The Minerals Intelligence Capacity Analysis (MICA) Project responds to the need to build a Raw Materials Knowledge Base at EU level, contributing to past and ongoing efforts by several EU projects and as part of the transitional phase towards this goal. The MICA Partners gathered together for the first time at the Project kick-off meeting held in Copenhagen on the 2-4 February 2016. The overall objective of MICA is to provide stakeholders with the best possible information, in a seamless and flexible way using a Web-based platform, the European Union Raw Materials Intelligence Capacity Platform (EU-RMICP). To reach this ambitious goal, MICA brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts, from natural and technical to social sciences, to ensure that the raw materials intelligence is collected, stored and made accessible according to stakeholders needs. The kick-off meeting, which included Technical Workshops, aimed at presenting all the Work Packages under which the activities will be carried and it introduced all the partners involved. The EU representatives presented the relevant policy frameworks and their expectations from the project. In particular, Mr Slavko Solar from the European Commission DG GROW, said that it is expected that MICA will contribute to shape the EU policy on Raw Materials and will foster the cooperation among past, current and future projects tackling the same issues. The cooperation with the industry, the KIC Raw Materials and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) is also considered as essential during the project lifetime. Indeed, representatives of those parties are part of the Advisory Board of the MICA Project. Background The MICA Project is coordinated by the Geological Survey of Denmark and...

The final Conference of the Minerals4EU Project took place on the 25th of August in Brussels, at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The results of the project were presented to stakeholders, including representatives of the minerals industry, governments and EU Institutions. Almost 100 participants took part in the event. Sustainability, interoperability and knowledge are the keywords of Minerals4EU. The Minerals4EU products form together a platform of distribution of information on minerals that benefits the whole of Europe now and in the future. The EU Minerals Knowledge Data Platform allows stakeholders to search, view and acquire standardized geo-resource and related data, freely accessible. The interoperability among countries is guaranteed as the platform is built in the framework of the INSPIRE Directive (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe). For the first time, a European digital Yearbook for Raw Materials is available for consultation online. The Yearbook, which includes 65 commodities from 40 EU and non-EU countries providing a wide range of data never collected before, will be officially presented and launched on the 15th October 2015 in Brussels at the “Raw Materials Diplomacy Dialogue between the EU and the advanced mining countries” event. David Ovadia, Exploitation Manager of the project, illustrated the structure of the Permanent Body that will allow the sustainability of Minerals4EU. As a legal entity under Belgian law, the permanent body will count on a small bureau of skilled staff co-located at EuroGeoSurveys in Brussels, acting as access point to a broader network of members. The bureau will therefore assist the Network in providing data, expertise, etc. Such a structure will assure that the project results will not be lost, but will survive to serve European policy makers, investors, citizens, scientists and tackle the challenges of the minerals industry. Furthermore, the...

Prospecting critical raw materials from wastes First Urban Mine Knowledge Data Platform providing access to data on mineral resources from extraction to end of life products with the ability to reference all spatial and non-spatial data   The ProSUM project, funded by the European Union (€3.051m) and the Swiss Government (€0.63m), will deliver the First Urban Mine Knowledge Data Platform, a centralised database of all available data and information on arisings, stocks, flows and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), batteries and mining wastes. The availability of primary and secondary raw materials data, easily accessible in one platform, will provide the foundation for improving Europe’s position on raw material supply, with the ability to accommodate more wastes and resources in future. ProSUM will provide data for improving the management of these wastes and enhancing the resource efficiency of collection, treatment and recycling. Every year in Europe, around 9 million tonnes of WEEE and 7-8M tonnes and ELVs are generated, and over 1 million tonnes batteries are sold. These products are a rich source of secondary critical raw materials (CRMs) in the urban mine. For example, 99% of world Gallium consumption is in integrated circuits and optoelctronic devices, 74% of Indium in flat panel displays and 27% of cobalt in rechargeable batteries. Previous and active mining deposits also contain untapped reserves of CRMs. Until now, the data on CRMs has been produced by a variety of institutions including government agencies, universities, NGOs and industry and lies scattered in different databases, formats and reports which is difficult to compare or aggregate. ProSUM, Latin for ‘I am useful’, and standing for Prospecting Secondary raw materials in the Urban mine and Mining waste, will create an Information Network that allows partners in the...

The European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials is a stakeholder platform that brings together representatives from industry, public services, academia and NGOs. EuroGeoSurveys will participate in the High Level Conference of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) that will be held in Brussels on Tuesday 13 January 2015. EuroGeoSurveys new President Mr. Koen Verbruggen will give a speech during the morning High Level Panel in which the Members of the High Level Steering Group of the EIP will participate. Mr Koen will illustrate the EGS pivotal role on the challenge of Raw Materials supply security for Europe. This annual conference aims to present a comprehensive picture of developments in the fields covered by the EIP, regional approaches to raw materials and some concrete examples of “Raw Materials Commitments”. The annual event also aims to provide a platform for networking to discuss experiences and possible future commitments. The conference will include a poster session where the stakeholders will be able to present their commitments. The Horizon 2020 Brokerage Event organised back-to-back with the conference, will serve as a forum for stakeholders to meet partners for future calls for proposals and provide information on financing instruments available under the Horizon 2020 Work-Programme 2015. Please find the Programme of the Conference...