CRM-Geothermal Kick-off meeting, Potsdam, July 2022

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CRM-geothermal recently started and LPRC is part of it. The kick-off meeting was held in July – in hybrid mode. On the 13th and 14th the project partners met in Potsdam, Germany, as well as online, to start the high-level discussions involved in CRM-geothermal Work Packages and their respective technological aspects. CRM-geothermal will open up a potentially huge untapped resource and deploy solutions to help Europe fulfil the strategic objectives of the EU Green Deal and the Agenda for Sustainable Development by combining the extraction of heat and minerals from geothermal wells.

In this context, LPRC (portrayed by Marcio Tameirão) was present at the event to talk about what is planned to be performed in the next four years, as well as the expected results and collaboration from the consortium partners. La Palma Research Centre is the leader of two tasks:

Task 4.4 – Market Deployment. This task is from Work Package 4 – Deployment of the combined extraction of CRM and energy from geothermal fluids, led by INTRAW. The objective is to develop a roadmap for the potential upscaling and commercialization of the technology involved in the extraction of CRM (Critical Raw Materials) from the brine in geothermal wells.

Task 6.6 – Clustering. This task is from Work Package 6 – Dissemination, communication and exploitation, led by EFG. The objective is to foster connections with communities working on similar topics and challenges; create long-term research collaborations and scientific investigations; increase project visibility; and contribute to the exploitation potential of results.

The event was a great opportunity for the consortium partners to meet in person and get to know each other, which naturally improves the conditions to collaborate in the upcoming years.

Follow the project on the website and social media for more information!

UNEXUP Consortium Meeting, Ljubljana, July 2022

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The UNEXUP project partners met in Ljubljana – Slovenia, as well as online, for the 5th progress meeting. The hybrid event was held on 5 and 6 July 2022, with the purpose of discussing what has been achieved in the past semester (since the last Progress Meeting in January 2022), and to plan the activities to be completed until the end of the project – in December 2022.

The meeting started with a clustering workshop between the UNEXUP, ROBOMINERS and Pipebots projects. After that, the Work Package leaders presented their work, followed by short discussions about the covered topics – which closed the first day of the event. On the 6th of July the meetings resumed with open discussions about post-processing of underwater images, the draft agenda of the UNEXUP Final Conference, as well as a visit to the facilities of the partner – and host of the event – GeoZS (Geological Survey of Slovenia).

In this opportunity, LPRC (portrayed by Marcio Tameirão) presented the progress of Work Package 4: Communication, dissemination and outreach, which it leads. The talk covered the updates on the main tasks, such as communication and dissemination management; production of outreach materials; and collaboration with the promotion of UGR (UNEXMIN GeoRobotics) services, the commercialization partner in UNEXUP. The main topic of discussions was the UNEXUP Final Conference, which is planned to happen in November 2022 – in Brussels, Belgium. The partners reviewed the draft agenda that was presented, and jointly made improvements – which will be further discussed in the upcoming months.

July 2022 clustering 1
July 2022 clustering 1

This event was the last official Progress Meeting before the UNEXUP Final Conference. In the next months there will be further robotic developments and field missions, and you can stay tuned by following UNEXUP on social media and through the project website!

ROBOMINERS Consortium and Review meeting, Brussels, 29, 30 June and 1 July 2022

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The ROBOMINERS consortium met in the capital of Europe, Brussels, for the most recent project meeting, which was coupled with a field visit and a review meeting with the European Commission-related personnel.

The meeting agenda started with a field trip to the South of Belgium to see the ROBOMINERS prototype in action in the field on 29 June, where the project partners had the chance to see the prototype (currently in development) in action.

On the following day, 30 June, the consortium members got together to discuss the state of project – with a review on the past, present and future status of all the operating Work Packages. La Palma Research Centre presented WP8 – Active roadmapping and Clustering, providing a view on the clustering activities and the many foresight actions towards future ROBOMINERS roadmaps. In the afternoon, which was dedicated to internal workshops and discussion groups, LPRC organised a visioning workshop with the participation of several project members. Data obtained from this interactive exercise will be used for implementation of the Work Package 8 foresight methodology.

On the 1st of July it was time for the Review meeting with the European Commission. The Work Packages leaders presented the work done and answered the questions and doubts put forwarded by the reviewers. Luís Lopes from LPRC represented Work Package 8.

Work within ROBOMINERS will now continue with technological development and integration into the prototype, aiming at the field tests of 2023. This work will be supported by foresight analysis developed and implemented by LPRC and ethical, environmental and economical analysis made by other project partners.

Follow the project through its website and social media to be up to date with ROBOMINERS developments!