The ambitious training programme of the PanAfGeo Project is now a reality. The first training of “WP2 – MINERAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT” will be held from 5 June 2017 to 16 June 2017 in Windhoek, Namibia. PanAfGeo WP2 will organise seven training sessions in “Mineral Resources Assessment” across Africa during 2017-2019, some of which will be held in English, French and possibly Portuguese. The second Training session will take place in Nigeria in November 2017.   BACKGROUND “PanAfGeo” for “Pan-African Support to the EuroGeoSurveys-Organisation of African Geological Surveys (EGS-OAGS) Partnership” is a project which supports the training of geoscientific staff from African Geological Surveys through the development of an innovative training programme that includes the acquisition and development of important professional skills that complement their qualifications and technical skills. The training programme is carried out by world-class geoscientific experts coming from African and European Geological Surveys. PanAfGeo is co-funded by the European Commission (Directorate-General of Development and International Cooperation) and by a Consortium of 12 European Geological Surveys coordinated by the French Geological Survey (BRGM). To find out more about PANAFGEO training programme please visit...

International cooperation on natural resources: geoscientists’ contribution to enhanced governance, policy making and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals EuroGeoSurveys will attend the “International cooperation on natural resources: geoscientists’ contribution to enhanced governance, policy making and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals” Conference that will be held on the 9-10 February 2017 at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, in Brussels. EuroGeoSurveys Secretary General Luca Demicheli will be present at the Panel Session Socio-economic and environmental drivers for natural resources development and management on the 10th of February. The conference will foster the convergence of terminology and the comparability/compatibility of data, thus contributing to the creation of a solid European Knowledge Database on mineral and energy resources. Such harmonization is equally important to government policymakers and to companies and regulators within the energy and minerals industries, including the users and providers of data on energy and minerals reserves and resources and renewable energy. UNFC will be reviewed, including its potential for application in Europe and beyond and its relationship with other classification and public reporting systems. There will be presentations from speakers representing a range of relevant UNECE and European policy areas linked to energy and minerals, as well as from international and European experts drawn from regulatory authorities, industry and non-governmental organizations. There will also be contributions from representatives of fossil and renewable energy companies, the mining industry and academia. The event is co-organized by the European Federation of Geologists (EFG) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).   [source: EFG...

  Today, more than 40 national and regional Geological Survey Organisations (GSOs) from over 30 European countries have joined forces to launch the ERA‐NET co-fund action “Establishing the European Geological Surveys Research Area to deliver a Geological Service for Europe (GeoERA)”. The integration of the participants’ knowledge and information on subsurface resources, to support sustainable use of the subsurface and to address some of Europe’s grand challenges, is the key aim of GeoERA. The GeoERA programme, was initiated through EuroGeoSurveys – the organisation of European Geological Surveys, as part of the realization of its “vision towards a Geological Service for Europe” and extended to all GSOs on the European continent. It has an overall budget of 30.3 M€, of which 10 M€ is provided by European Commission and the remainder is provided by the GeoERA participants as in‐kind contributions to the funded transnational projects. It will provide interoperable, pan‐European data and information services on the distribution of geo‐energy, groundwater and raw material resources and harmonized methods to assess these. It will also develop common assessment frameworks and methodologies for supporting the European national and regional policy-makers for a better understanding and management of the water‐energy‐raw materials nexus to determine potential impacts and risks of subsurface use. Mrs Teresa Ponce de Leão, EuroGeoSurveys President, says “GeoERA represents the key step for establishing a common European Knowledge Base and to a joint provision of a Geological Service for Europe. The Geological Knowledge Base will provide European stakeholders with open access to objective and seamless data, information, knowledge and expertise on subsurface resources and their sustainable use and management”. Mrs Yvonne Schavemaker, GeoERA Project Manager, highlights the large impact GeoERA will have in integrating and harmonizing national and regional research resources and optimizing pan‐European coverage of geological...

World Forum on Raw Materials Project launched PRESS RELEASE Brussels, 30th  November, 2016 17h00 – 18h30 OREGA Brussels Leopold Rue du Commerce, 123 – Brussels   The FORAM project was launched in Brussels during the first Raw Materials Week, organized by the European Commission. To date it is the largest collaborative effort to improve worldwide cooperation on securing access, promoting innovation and fostering sustainable mining, recycling and use of raw materials. Apart from key stakeholders from governments, research and industry in Europe the project brings together partners from Japan, the USA, and other G20 countries, as well as key countries active in the mining and other raw materials sectors. As Mr. Marcin Sadowski, Head of the Raw Materials Sector at the EC Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) stated, FORAM supports the EU International Cooperation Strategy on Raw Materials and he expects that the project will be an essential contribution to its success and international uptake. Mr. Mathias Schluep, FORAM project leader, from the Swiss based World Resources Forum, said, “common approaches and solutions for both primary and secondary raw materials will be identified. The event was organized and hosted by the EuroGeoSurveys, The Geological Surveys of Europe, (EGS) and brought together close to 100 enthusiastic participants, ranging from policy makers, industry, academia and research institutions who concluded that the ambitious initiative will need to be inclusive, open, and built upon the successes of related European and global initiatives in this field. Mr. Jaco Huisman, from the United Nations University, in charge for the identification of FORAM key challenges and priorities, said: “The raw materials field is a dynamic environment with lots of initiatives and projects. However, many actors are still working in silos. It is important to track relevant information flows,...

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...