The major event INSPIRE Conference was held in Barcelona on the 26th-30th September 2016. Introduced by Mr de Groof (European Commission DG for Environment), EuroGeoSurveys Secretary General Mr Luca Demicheli gave a remarkable talk on the European Geological Surveys contribution to INSPIRE, from One-Geology Europe to EGDI. “EGDI now is a reality in a new portal, where there is already a prototype perfectly functioning” “You can have access through a very simple system to information provided by the National Geological Surveys, all harmonized, INSPIRE-compliant, etc. It’s a fantastic tool” “We can state that now for the first time there is a home for pan-european geological datasets and services from past and ongoing projects. That will stay there forever, as we will maintain it” The INSPIRE Directive aims to create a European Union spatial data infrastructure for the purposes of EU environmental policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment....

EuroGeoSurveys Secretary General Mr Luca Demicheli attended the INTRAW Project Workshop in Cornwall (UK) from 5 to 7 October 2016, as part of the high-level Panel of Experts on international Raw materials cooperation. The panel of Experts provides the project consortium with suggestions on how to enhance the European Union’s International Observatory for Raw Materials that will be launched by the end of the project’s lifetime. The INTRAW (International Raw Materials Observatory) Project is coordinated by the European Federation of Geologists (EFG) and brings together an international consortium of 15 partners from 9 European countries, Australia, South Africa and the USA. [To know more about INTRAW and the Workshop outcomes read the full press release...

The Geoscientific Knowledge and Skills in African Geological Surveys (PanAfGeo) Project, presented last 29th August in Cape Town, South Africa, during the 35th International Geological Congress (IGC35), has attracted more than 200 participants, mainly from African Countries. The project’s aim, in fact, is to organise a series of effective and impacting trainings for the staff of the African geological administrations in the field of remote sensing and geoscientific mapping, mineral resources assessment, environmental management of mines, artisanal and small-scale mining, geoscience information management, geohazards monitoring and geoheritage valorization. Mr. Mosebenzi Joseph Zwane, Minister of Mineral Resources of the Republic of South Africa, opened the symposium, highlighting the full support of his ministry for such initiative. Stronger administrations, means more and better information, less bureaucracy and more transparency in the administrative steps, that translates into more investment attractiveness. Also raw materials trade is important, as countries would benefit of the synergies and commerce with relatively wealthy neighbouring ones. A similarly strong same support came from Mr Frank Mugyenyi, Senior Industry Advisor to African Union Commissioner Acyl, who sees in the Organisation of African Geological Surveys an ideal partner for developing more conscious decision making procedures, in terms of economic and infrastructure development, and encourage entrepreneurial activities. Mr Verbruggen, President of EuroGeoSurveys, expressed satisfaction for having reached this milestone, after so many months of joint effort, but reminded that the real challenge is starting now and that huge expectations lie behind this project. However the premises are great, especially because a good start is half the job. Stronger Geological Surveys mean stronger local industries and more investments from abroad, is what has been recognised by all the stakeholders invited at the panel discussion, such as Mr. Marcus Cornaro, European Union Ambassador to the Republic of South...

On the 28th and 29th of June 2016 the ‘Exchange of best practices on mining policies and technologies’ event hosted by the European Commission (DG GROW) took place at the Hotel Metropole, in Brussels. The challenges for the mining sector in the current state of the global economy and commodity prices (economic issues, investment, innovation, readjustments both from governments and industry, etc.) as well as the mining waste management and the ongoing EU actions on international co-operation on raw materials were discussed among several other topics.  Speakers from all over the world: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and the US participated. Mrs Lowri Evans, the Director-General from DG GROW, welcomed the attendees with a very engaging speech mentioning President Juncker’s plans about Horizon 2020: “We use this research innovation program to bring together partners from around the globe with 600 million euro committed to 28 successful projects on raw material  before 2020. ”and: “In our technologies projects the program is wide enough to cover the entire value chain of raw materials and our projects are developing very interesting aspects (…) to try to unlock new innovative solutions.” Finally, she ended her speech by saying: ”The more we are approaching things in an intimated way the better we are able to help the mining industry, deliver what we need for the European economy, for the global economy and for the benefit of people”. The President of the EuroGeoSurveys, Mr. Koen Verbruggen, pointed out the contribution of the European Geological Surveys (EGS) that are all together  dealing with the geoscience challenges. He underlined the importance of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on raw materials:” We are trying to match these needs to progress these issues on technologies to deal with challenges with the EU funding...

Data worth hundreds of millions of Euros has been made available through a first version of the European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI). This will enable users to access information and data in INSPIRE compliant formats about geology and earth resources across Europe. The EGDI was launched last Tuesday 14th June at the European Geological Surveys (EGS) Secretariat in Brussels. The interest expressed by the participants and speakers, mainly composed by representatives from EU DGs, was large: Marie Donnelly, Director of Renewables, research and Innovation, Energy Efficiency, (European Commission’s DG Energy) said “The kind of information you are putting together is hugely useful for the EU”, as well as Slavko Solar, DG GROW has confirmed: “EGDI is a great step forward” supported by Chris Steenmans, Head of ICT and Data Management, European Environment Agency (EEA). Positive reactions also came from  the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Constantin Ciupagea Head of Land and Raw Materials (European Commission’s DG), who highlighted: “EGDI is the big platform for EGS. Extremely happy to see EGDI go forward” as well as from Iain Shephard, Head of Maritime Policy Atlantic, outermost regions and Arctic, (European Commission’s DG for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries,) said “EGDI is a great initiative” and Gilles Ollier Head of Earth Observation (European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation) added :“EGDI has a very important role to play in the in-situ part of Copernicus and GEOSS”. Europe – as does the rest of the world – faces a growing need for access to data on nature, environment and raw materials across the borders in order to manage resources appropriately. The EGDI is a platform for geological data from the geological surveys and it gathers thousands of pan-European and national datasets covering Energy, Groundwater, Mineral Resources, Geohazards and Soil. During his...

The latest EuroGeoSurveys publication “Wonder Water – the Value of Water” has been launched on the 15th March 2016 at 16.00 o’clock, at the Scotland House of Brussels, during the EuroGeoSurveys 40th General Meeting. The book brings you on a fantastic geological journey around Europe through mineral springs, thermal baths, SPAs, pools, etc. It lets you explore fantastic places and discover the health benefits of groundwater on which geology has a mayor impact. The launch event was attended by the Directors of the Geological Surveys of Europe, EU representatives and invited guests from America, Asia and Africa. Below you will find the interviews with Mr. Koen Verbruggen (President  the EuroGeoSurveys) and Mr. Zdenek Venera (Director of the Czech Geological Survey). For more details on the event, please read the press release.  ...

The MICA project was presented by a poster at the 7th session of the UNECE Expert Group of Resource Classification (EGRC), held in Geneva 27-29 April 2016. The project was represented by Katalin Sári, researcher of the Geological and Geophysical Institute of Hungary (participating as a linked third party in the project). The EGRC is responsible for the promotion and further development of the United Nations Framework Classification for Fossil Energy and Mineral Reserves and Resources 2009 (UNFC-2009). The Expert Group meets once a year at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to present the latest achievements on the UNFC-2009 and its Specifications and to discuss the subsequent tasks. The sessions are attended by experts from numerous countries around the world, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and private sector. In the 7th session many European stakeholders took part such as representatives of the EC, ministries, authorities, research institutes, industry, academia etc., who are data providers and users in terms of the MICA project. The comprehensive identification of stakeholders in mineral sector, which is of central importance in the project, is properly implemented in the case of UNECE EGRC. Furthermore, this forum aims to develop a common ground, which is a key tool and goal of mineral intelligence. The experience gained at the meeting will significantly contribute to the implementation of the MICA...

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...

A new map showing the occurrences of critical raw materials in Europe has been released by the Minerals Resources Expert Group of EuroGeoSurveys. In particular, the Document shows European mineral deposits from the ProMine Mineral Deposit database as containing critical commodities, according to the list of critical raw materials of the European Commission. Europe’s industry and economy depends on a secure and good access to many commodities. In 2010, the European Commission identified 14 critical non energy non-agricultural raw materials. Criticality is based on both the scarcity of supply and the importance of the material to European industry. The list has been updated and expanded over time. Today, it includes the following critical materials: antimony, beryllium, boron, fluorspar, phosphate, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, silicon, cobalt, coke, chrome magnesite, magnesium, niobium, platinum group metals, light and heavy rare earth elements and tungsten. Such list is deemed strategically important for many product areas, not least in environmental technology. Download the PDF of the Map More information about the Map:  ...

“WONDER WATER- THE VALUE OF WATER” A GEOLOGICAL JOURNEY AROUND EUROPE’S MINERAL SPRINGS, SPAs AND THERMAL BATHS   Brussels, 10 March 2016 The latest EuroGeoSurveys publication “Wonder Water – the Value of Water” will be launched on the 15th March 2016 at 16.00 o’clock, at the Scotland House of Brussels, during the EuroGeoSurveys 40th General Meeting. The book brings you on a fantastic geological journey around Europe through mineral springs, thermal baths, SPAs, pools, etc. Are you ready to explore fantastic places and discover the health benefits of groundwater on which geology has a mayor impact? For instance, at the Clémentine spring of Spa in Belgium, calcium-bicarbonate water, once ingested, purifies the liver and facilitates digestion. Alkaline springs such the one of Troodos, Cyprus, are thought to have beneficial effects on healing rheumatic and skin diseases. Bath of sulphuric waters, such as at the Latvian health resort of Jaunķemeri, increase body tone, improve circulation of blood and metabolism. All these water’s properties are connected with particular geological situations (terrains, rock types, climate, etc.), reflecting a wide geological diversity across Europe. Special attention is given to myths and stories. In Finnish mythology, vedenväki (‘water folk’) were water spirits, nymphs, etc. said to dwell in lakes, rivers, rapids, the sea and even springs and wells. And how not to be fascinated with the Greek myth of Pyra and Defkelionas? To gain many and strong children they had a bath in the warm spring waters of Edipsos, and thus acquired Hellin, father of all the Hellenic tribes. Through “Wonder Water” EuroGeoSurveys renewed its commitments in engaging with the wider public to communicate geology by showing how our groundwater, essential in our daily life, is used and enjoyed. Indeed, it has been estimated that 75% of European Union...