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Closing of Minatura 2020 Project

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The Horizon2020 Minatura 2020 project oficially finished on the 31st of January. After three years, the project consortium was able to delineate and start discussions around a very important topic: land-use planning for geological resources with the definition of  MDoPI – Mineral Deposits of Public Importance.

The core of the work developed in Minatura 2020 was divided in 5 work packages:

WP1: Land use assessment – First, it was necessary to understand what are and what will be the sources of conflict between mining and other land uses (agriculture, hunting, etc.). This work was done based on existing methodologies and approaches at EU and national level.

WP2: Development of a harmonised mapping framework – With the data gathered from WP1 it was possible to start creating a mapping framework based on detailed qualifying conditions for classifying “mineral deposits of public importance”. The development of the mapping framework took into account appropriate existing mineral planning policies of countries considering the access to mineral deposits. This allowed for possible MDoPI areas to be mapped.

WP3: Regulatory framework – The objective of WP3 was to define the possibilities to incorporate the concept of MDoPI established previously, into the regional, national and EU levels of minerals land use planning. The idea was to explore and establish regional, national and EU-level regulatory criteria for the safeguarding of MDoPI at different levels.

WP4: Demonstration and pilot-testing of developed methodology at case-study level – In WP4 the methodology developed was tested in practical terms in some countries, such as Hungary and Slovenia, taking into account different national policy scenarios and their impacts.

WP5: Stakeholder involvement on mineral deposits of public importance – Finally, the always important involvement with different stakeholders was achieved by WP5. Here, the partners held national consultation workshops to get information and opinions from relevant stakeholders (Environmentalists, Governments) in the application of the MDoPI framework.

(Photo credit: Anita Stein)

Developing a mechanism to protect and safeguard mineral deposits in Europe proved to be a challenging task due to the many divergences present through all European countries and to challenges in land-use planning. However, the Minatura 2020 project was able to create a definition and establish different sets of criteria that can be applied by different countries to protect their mineral deposits for future use. This is the main conclusion coming from the Minatura 2020 final meeting that was held in Brussels on the 10th of January.

To obtain more information, including project publications, please visit the Minatura 2020 website!

Minatura2020 Final Consortium Meeting, Brussels

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The last MINATURA2020 consortium meeting took place in Brussels on the 10th January 2018. The project that is due to end by in the 31st of January is defining a very important concept for European mineral raw materials: the establishment of MDoPI – Mineral Deposits of Public Important – and how to map and protect them, so mineral raw materials can be used tomorrow.

The one-day conference that gathered the project partners, the Advisory Board members and also representatives from EASME, started with a welcome statement and an overview of the agenda. To these, then followed the presentation of the work and conclusions of 6 work packages of the MINATURA2020 project:

  • WP1 – Land use assessment
  • WP2 – Development of a harmonised mapping framework
  • WP3 – Regulatory framework
  • WP4 – Demonstration and pilot-testing of developed methodology at case study level
  • WP5 – Stakeholder involvement on mineral deposits of public importance
  • WP6 – Dissemination

After everyone was updated on the work developed through all the MINATURA2020 project, a panel discussion was held with some of the participants. The discussions of this panel worked around (1) the access to land and how to balance industries and authorities’ interests, (2) the identification of MDoPI from the Geological Surveys point of view and (3) tools and models in R&D, among other pressing themes related to the definition and real application of the MDoPI concept developed by the MINATURA 2020 consortium.

The meeting ended with some final remarks, conclusions and prospects of what was done in the project and what are the next steps in the applicability of the MDoPI concept.

Developing a mechanism to protect and safeguard mineral deposits in Europe proved to be a challeging task due to the many divergences present through all European countries and to challenges in land-use planning. However, the MINATURA 2020 project was able to create a definition and establish different sets of criteria that can be applied by different countries to protect their mineral deposits for future use.

In the end, MINATURA 2020 was a successful project, that opened the way to the safeguard and protection of such an important commodity for our daily lives, as minerals are!

All interested persons can subscribe to the Minatura 2020 Council of Stakeholders and view a video that showcases the project’s objectives.

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LPRC at the Raw Materials Week 2017, Brussels

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The second European Raw Materials Week was held in Brussels from the 6th to the 10th of November. This is a recent event, that intends to get together projects, parterns and personel related to the all the areas of raw materials to discuss on the most pressuring topics for the sector. As a team actively dealing with raw materials projects, LPRC was present during this very important forum.

Raw Materials Week 2017

The LPRC members have been present in many events during this week and those include: 1) the INTRAW project consortiun meeting, 2) the EU advanced mining country raw materials diplomacy dialogue conference, 3) the INTRAW Experts Workshop – which was organised by the LPRC team, 4) the Reconciling biodiversity protection and extractive activities conference, 5) the The EU Raw Materials Knowledge Base in support of EU raw materials policy, 6) the Prospecting secondary raw materials in the urban mine and mining wastes (ProSUM) conference and, finally, 7) the MINATURA2020 final conference.

During the week, a poster session was also occurring. There were 6 project posters where LPRC is an partner: UNEXMIN, ¡VAMOS!, CHPM2030, INTRAW, MINATURA 2020 and MICA. These projects that focus on exploration, exploitation and raw materials databases attracted a lot of attention to the Raw Materials Week participants – they fitted perfectly into the thematic.

Preparation of the RMW poster session with the UNEXMIN, INTRAW, MINATURA 2020, ¡VAMOS, CHPM2030 and MICA projects

Being present at this high-level conferences and workshops allowed the LPRC members to gain valuable insight on the issues, challenges and solutions that are linked to the raw materials sector, while also participating in the many discussions held in the many conferences.

We hope to participate again next year!

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FEMP annual reunion in Sopron, Hungary

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The Federation of European Mineral Programs (FEMP) annual reunion took place in Sopron, Hungary, organized by the University of Miskolc. FEMP organizes and co-ordinates the European Mining, Minerals a nd Environmental Program (EMMEP) for students in Resource Engineering, Mining and Geotechnical Engineering, Mineral Processing, Recycling and related academic studies. Tamás Miklovicz, as a former student of the European Geotechnical Environmental Course (EGEC), organized by FEMP, participated in the event. Every year a reunion is organized to gather former students, academics and industry rep resentatives for an informal weekend with networking and interesting events

The reunion kicked-off with a guided city tour and welcome reception on Thursday, 31st of August. Next day, after the FEMP industrial members business meeting, the reunion was opened by the organiser, Ferenc Mádai. The morning session included a workshop, discussion about the Minatura2020 project, which was introduced by Zoltán Horváth. Before the workshop, Tamás Miklovicz had a one-slide addition, providing an outlook on Horizon 2020 opportunities and its best examples, including UNEXMIN, INTRAW and CHPM2030 projects.

During the workshop, the participants were divided into three groups, based on the factors that define Mineral Deposits of Public Importance (MDoPI): Level of Geological Knowledge, moderated by Zoltán Horváth, Environmental and Social aspects, moderated by Tamas and Economic considerations, moderated by Ákos Csicsek. Such factors are Background Geological Information & Knowledge – known or unknown mining/quarrying districts, Impact of Past Exploitation Activities in a Specific Tract, Social Acceptance, Compatibility With Other Land Uses, Contribution of an Active Operation to the Added-Value Chain of Mineral Products, etc. The participants realised that these factors are rather complex and many of them can have a positive or negative effect on future mining activity. The participants explained some of their experience at mines they were working. As a conclusion, there are many good examples where mining operation, surface or underground, is very welcome by the local community, however generally speaking, there are a lot of work needs to be done to harmonize mining operation with other land uses.

In the afternoon session, the best master thesis have been presented from the just graduated students. One of the highlight is the Development of a comprehensive system Model for a Magnetic Density Separation Process Line from Wokke Wijdeveld, which dealt with a novel type of separation technique, using water based magnetic ferrofluid, mixed with grains of different density. The mixture is put into an electromagnetic field that creates a vertical density gradient, which separates the particles, based on their type (density), so it can be divided into its base products.

During the whole event, a poster section was open with UNEXMIN, KINDRA, CHPM and INTRAW posters, allowing the participants to get familiar with these interesting projects.

The reunion closed with a very relaxed bike tour and BBQ. But EIT Raw Materials certified courses continue, highly recommended for any student interested in the mineral raw material sector.

Next year see you in Delft!

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Minatura2020 3rd Consortium Meeting

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From the 15th to the 17th of November 2016, LPRC Project Manager Luís was present at the 3rd Minatura2020 Consortium Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The agenda included important items for the project’s development, including the key findings and challenges of the running Work Packages, the MDoPI (Mineral Deposits of Public Importance) concept, an interactive workshop between the partners, and a review of National Stakeholders’ Workshops (in many countries around Europe) and stakeholder groups themselves.

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Interactive workshop with the consortium partners.

After some discussion among the participants, a set of future steps were decided for the next phase of the project, which is working towards the goal of defining areas to protect strategically important mineral deposits for future generations in Europe.

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Discussion of the work done and the future steps for communication and dissemination of Minatura2020.

On the last day of the meeting the partners travelled to Western Slovenia to visit a sustainable cement plant, Salonit Anhovo. This plant is using a whole range of minerals and its operations have significant social responsibility and impact in Slovenia.

Slovenia is considered one of the greenest places in Europe, with Ljubljana being chosen as European Green Capital of 2016 – and one can see why!

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A beautiful view of the area surrounding the cement plant, taken from a height of 100 m.

 

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Minatura2020 workshop hosted in La Palma
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La Palma Research Centre hosted a Minatura2020 scenario workshop in La Palma on the 27th and 28th of September.

Result from the meeting will be available soon!

Read more about Minatura2020 here.

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Work Package leader Michiel introduces the iCLUE approach and discusses projections based on historical data and business-as-usual scenarios.

 

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Group picture during star gazing.

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