PRESS RELEASE A Permanent body: a new solution for the sustainability of the MineralsEU project Brussels, 22 June 2015 The final Minerals4EU Stakeholder Workshop was organised on the 17th June, as part of the 8th European Congress on Regional Geoscientific Cartography and Information Systems (EureGeo), held in Barcelona. The Congress was attended by over 150 scientists from all around Europe. Mr Ovadia, the exploitation manager of the Minerals4EU project, opened the workshop highlighting the importance of the project not only because of its contribution to competitiveness in the EU, but also for the number of partners involved, more than 30 participants comprising Geological Surveys, research institutes and industries, who collaborate to make available free and comprehensive data. The overall scope of the project is in support economic development and quality of life, and in doing so, it is necessary not only to harmonise data across borders but also to identify a “place” where industries and researchers can get them. Minerals4EU will be the “one-stop-shop” access point to data, information and knowledge on mineral resources, as part of the European Innovation Partnership of Raw Materials. This is possible through the establishment a network of minerals data providers who make available mineral relevant geo data, set up a yearbook on minerals statistics and provide foresight studies. But what the audience found very interesting and different from most other EU projects is the establishment of a Core Permanent Body that will offer the sustainability of the service beyond the project lifetime, offering public good exploitation facilities via a single bureau, with skilled staff able to respond to requests and, of course, a web portal for technical and scientific information. Mr Ovadia concluded the session inviting all the participants to attend the launch event, where the results of...